Ten years after
by WriteShop
Summary: The grail didn't activate ten years after the Fourth grail war. It activated 20 years after. The participants in the Fifth war are all adults. Some matured, others fell apart. Please note that Shirou in this story is NOTHING like archer/EMYA. This Shirou is an idealist, but framed in a more normal, more human setting.
1. Chapter 1

This story is set 10 years after Fate Stay night. The Grail did not activate then, and there was no heaven feel ritual. The characters grew up. Some matured and became better and stronger than they had been as teens, others, who had been barely holding themselves together, fell completely apart. Please note that Shirou in this story is NOTHING like archer/EMIYA, as Archer's formative experience was fighting in the Holy Grail war and winning at horrible cost (from which he learned that if he fights & sacrifices everything, he can save people)

This Shirou is an idealist, but framed in a more normal, more human setting (though he's still a fighter)

Also, he doesn't use swords (Where would he have gotten the idea to do so?)

START

At first glance, the man who walked into the principles office looked older, with graying hair and a cane.

"Hello, Dr Emiya. Please take a seat. The principle stood up and motioned for his guest to make himself welcome

As Emiya came into the room, the second impression was of a much younger man – despite his hair, his face was not age-lined, and the cane appeared to be more of an affection than a necessity.

"So tell me about yourself. I have obviously read your resume, but I want to hear why somebody so, ah.. 'qualified' is interested in teaching biology in Fuyuki." He held out a water bottle to Dr. Emiya as his guest sat down on the edge of his seat, his cane propped within easy reach

"Thank you." Emiya leaned forwards, "I'm here because I want to save the world." He cracked open the water bottle and took a sip, "And I want to do it now, which is why after Medical school, I took a residency in Sierra Leone, and then spent my summers working with Médecins Sans Frontières in northern Nigeria in the war zone there, because I wanted to save people, to make a difference. But you know what? I discovered that even in places like that, most days were just routine. I felt like I was making a difference in somebody's life only once every few weeks at most."

Emiya shrugged, "I realized that the problem was not the situation I was in, but with me. I have the passion, but not the patience to make the world better. So decided that maybe I could pass my passion on to the next generation, who will have the skills I lack to actually use it ." Shirou figured that this explanation would do – it was close to the truth, and there was no reason to bring up a certain Finnish mentor / friend / lover / distant acquaintance / whatever the hell she was.

"That is a very... interesting perspective." The smile on the principals face was somewhat fixed. Most interviews didn't get so.. intense or personal. But they needed somebody to get the slower and less motivated students interested in science. "But you are definitely qualified, and you certainly will be able to keep the students attention. Welcome to teaching, Dr. Emiya!"

^T^Y^A^

The severely dressed business woman stepped out of the Lexus and walked up toward the decrepit mansion, her chauffeur shuffling after her.

She swepped into the darkly lit interior, to be confronted by a wizened old man standing in the foyer, "Ah. Sakura. I knew you would come back." Matou smiled, revealing bare gums. The smile not make him appear any more pleasant, but at his age, he figured he would settle for disturbing.

Sakura held out her brief case to to her chauffeur, "Hold this." She did not even pause as she walked in a calm manner over to Matou and plunger her right hand into his chest.

The elderly form rippled, and began to shimmer and squirm, as if made up of thousands of worms, but Sakura clenched tight to something in the old man's chest, and he did not quite loose cohesion. She bent over, and supporting the back of his head with her free hand, kissed him passionately. Matou began to convulse as the the skin on his already whithered frame was sucked in, leaving a mummified cadaver. Once the body stopped moving, Sakura let it slip to the floor, off of her hand. Revealed in her fist was a giant worm, which was still wriggling feebly. Sakura brought it up to her mouth and bit it in two before spitting it back out onto the floor.

"Shinji, bring my things inside" she commanded as she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.

The mummified chauffeur shuffled back out to the car.

^T^Y^A^

"Open, shut" the young woman was finishing up the incantation as the entire room filled with a reddish glow that overspilled the chalk summoning circle, making the basement room appear unearthly and disturbing. Despite the arcane working that the magus was performing, she was dressed as if for the opera, in an elegant evening dress.

"Open, shut. Open shut" With each phrase, the woman opened her hand revealing a gemstone pendant.

With a final gesture, the glow flashed one last time before dissipating. The woman looked around comically.

"Where the hell is he? She?" She peered under her work table, but there was nobody there – she was alone in the now prosaic work room. She turned the overhead light back on and took another glance around. With a sigh, she stomped up the stairs.

"6 months of stored mana gone, and nothing to show for it. How could I have managed to screw this up? You don't technically need a catalyst, and using my oldest gem reservoir as the focus should have summoned a servant most attuned to me." She muttered in a fashion of those used to spending too much time alone, "was that criteria too narrow? Maybe there aren't any servants that are a good personality match for me." What bothered Rin the most was the loss of the pendant – it had been a gift from her father. He had given one to her and an identical one to her sister. She hadn't used it in years. Who would have thought that losing that one last connection to her sister would bother her so much?

She opened the basement door and stepped out into the kitchen.

"Hello. Where do you keep the mayo?" A bronze skinned man dressed in a black dashiki – a West African tunic with bright red pipping along the deep v-neck - stood up from peering into the fridge. Despite his shock of white hair, he did not appear older than mid thirties. "Incidentally, Servant Saber, at your service." He gave a slight bow before putting the loaf of bread he was holding onto the counter, next to a can of tuna fish and a short, broad spear.

^T^Y^A^

"It'll be great to be back in Fuyuki High. It'll be like old times, except now I will be working as your colleague" Shirou put the tray of food onto the table and sat down opposite Taiga. "It'll be strange seeing all my old teachers as coworkers, though."

Taiga didn't bother to reply, instead shoveling food quickly onto her plate - having Shirou stay with her had a HUGE side benefit. So much for that diet she had been flirting with. It'd not like she was really fat or anything – nothing that biking into work wouldn't fix.

"Is Kuzuki-sensai still teaching? I just can't see myself as his peer – he was always kind of intimidating" Shirou watched with bemusement as Taiga shoveled and chewed, _'I would have thought she would have outgrown that.'_

"Nuh, nuh" Taiga gestured violently as she tried to get words out past a mouth full of rice.

"Don't mention that name!" She managed after swallowing hugely. "It wash a scandal. Jush horrible." She slurred as she wiped her mouth with a napkin, "And the students still won't stop talking about it!"

"What happened?"

"It turns out he was an international criminal – a hit-man or something! About a year and a half ago, Interpol finally caught up with him. The police came after him, and he managed to give them the slip. They chased him for a week! The entire city was locked down before he was shot dead in a fight at Ryuudou shrine, of all places." Taiga snarled. "The poor students were traumatized. And now, they are treating him like some sort of local cult icon."

"Huh. I never expected that. Though it kinda makes sense in retrospect. Tea?" Until he had time to find his own place, Shirou was staying with Taiga in her apartment. Shirou was bemused that despite the apartment being a gift from Taiga's father (and most likely bought with yakuza money, if certain rumors were true), she was incensed at other people's criminal behavior. "Incidentally, when is Hamura-san returning from his trip? I've been looking forwards to meeting him."

"Hamura's on another sales training trip to China. This one is going to be two weeks, but hopefully it will be the last one." taiga smiled as she spoke of her husband – he had just started working for a motorcycle parts company that her father was part owner of. "What about you? I saw a strange car at the Matou house on my way to work yesterday. You think Sakura might be around?"

Shirou shrugged, "I am not certain if it matters – we haven't spoken in almost ten years, not since we broke up."

"Hmm.. Well, are you seeing anybody?" Fujimura leaned in inquisitively, a predatory smile on her face.

"Taiga, I just got back to Japan a week ago!" Shirou leaned back, defensively. ' _Why is it always like this? It's like she's my grandmother.'_ Of course, she was the closest thing to family he had left, so Shirou didn't really mind. It was nice to have somebody who worried about this little stuff.

"Well, I know a couple of nice young girls at my gym. I can ask if either of them is free this Friday." Taiga 's eyes unfocused as she planned to rescue poor, socially helpless Shirou.

"Heh" Shirou stood up from the table. He was most definitely **not** ready for this conversation "I'm going to go have a walk, to settle my digestion."

"Poor Shirou – even the idea of dating is putting your stomach into knots. That's why you need help from mama Fujimura or you'll end up a life long bachelor."

Shirou fled.

^T^Y^A^

Shirou wandered the streets of Fuyuki, reacquainting himself with his birth city. It was still an industrial town, so pretty much everything shut down at five o'clock, and now the streets were dark and empty, save for small islands of activity around the bars. It was a cool spring day, especially near the waterfront. Old habits developed living at the edge of war zones died hard, so as he walked, he kept his eyes open for anything unusual, for any sign of danger or for any poor shmo who might need rescuing.

As he was walking up from the docks along an otherwise empty road, he saw a young blond woman walking the other way. She was clearly European, and dressed much too nicely for the area. As she drew near, Shirou opened his mouth to ask if she was lost.

But before he could say anything, she beat him to it "The war has already started, oni-chan. You should summon yours soon."

"Excuse me?" Shirou stopped and pivoted to follow her. She did not reply, instead quickly turning down into a side alley.

"Miss? Do you need me to call you a cab? This area is not safe to wander at night."

When she continued walking without a reply, Shirou turned and followed her. At first glance, from her well tailored clothing, she had appeared to be his age, or possibly older, but Shirou now saw that she was probably in her late teens. As she walked, pretending Shirou wasn't there, her shoulders started to creep up to her ears. Finally, she pivoted and stepped back towards Shirou, "I didn't take you for a stalker, oni-chan"

"I'm not, I mean.." Now Shirou was at a loss for words – not only was he face to face with an attractive (blond) woman, but Taiga's words were still resonating in his head (because they HAD hit a nerve).

She just smirked as Shirou lost all his composure, "Oh, I know you're not. Your a good man." She stood on her tip toes and kissed Shirou on the cheek, before leaving a completely pole-axed Shirou standing in the street,

It was several minutes before Shirou's brain rebooted.

^T^Y^A^

 _The woman in the closely tailored suit perched on the warehouse fire escape, looking in through the second story window. The building looked abandoned from the front, but from up here, she could see the back area: Here, columns of blue light were standing in rows, and inside each column was suspended a young woman. The ones on the right side, where the blue light was dimmer, were all stunningly attractive, while the ones on the left, where the columns of light were sparkling and dancing with energy, the woman were of a more mundane appearance. In between were tables strewn with various alchemical apparatus boiling and dripping liquid into tubes that ran to the trapped women._

 _The woman did not move, except the ones on the left side sometimes twitched or moaned as if in agony._

 _Working in the space between the two sets of lights was a man in a lab coat. As he muttered incantations and inspected an array of tubes and glowing spheres, a woman knelt at his side, holding a platter with a drink on it._

 _The observe pulled back her fist and smashed through the window, sending flaming shards of metal flying from her hand down at the other magus._

 _The woman who was by his side stood up, blocking the spell (For that is what the jagged, red hot shards were) with her body. As she fell to the ground, the man whirled around and unleashed a wave of blue sparks up at his attacker._

 _But the intruder did not wait for him, jumping down and releasing a spear of liquefied metal from her fist. The man dodged, and the spear smashed into the apparatus, releases a wave of heat._

 _As the battle between the two raged, fires caught on the machinery. The woman tried to avoid injuring the captive girls, but the man was not so restrained, and soon the fire enveloped the whole building._

 _The woman lost track of her opponent, instead turning to try to rescue some of the woman._

 _Which is when she saw her sister_

Bazett woke up with a gasp. That dream again. She clenched her fist.

She pulled on her suit, as at the same time she silently pronounced, _'Berserker, It is time to hun_ t'

^T^Y^A^

"Rin, we should go out an reconnoiter." Saber commented, from where he perched on a chair like a gargoyle, his spear across his lap. ,"The other servants are probably already in motion,"

"Later."

Saber sighed, "How long has it been since you saw the sun? You're as pale as a zombie" His master really didn't look good. Well, she looked **good** , being dressed in a fancy evening dress, and her hair up, like she was about to go out to paint the town red, but she was pasty white, giving the lie to the fashion statement. And her eyes were red rimmed – like she was staying too late too often.

"You're just dark skinned, so all Japanese looks pale to you. Besides, there's no need to rush. Let the other servants thin each other out a little first" Rin was hunched over a Rube Goldberg machine, involving gems dangling from rotating arms and sliding along elliptical tracks. "Besides, my Soul Generator isn't quite ready."

Saber hopped off of his chair, "What's it for?"

"When the Great grail activates, the power will pour out through the spacious-temporal locus, ie the victor of the Holy Grail war," Rin slowly shifted into her lecture pose. It was clear she hadn't had much call to use it lately. "But the design is very basic. In order to control the process and elevate the soul to the next level of existence, I will need this generator." But the more she talked, the less tentative her speech became (and the more comfortable her posture) as half forgotten skills resurfaced.

"What's that for?"

"It will allow me to turn my soul into a source of magical energy, so that I am no longer bound by the amount of prana my body can collect."

"Why?"

Now Tohsaka was starting to look puzzled, "So that I have unlimited mana for casting spells?"

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?" Now Rin was starting to get exasperated. Nobody had questioned her like this in years! "That is the goal of all mages – to discover new magics, to expand their personal horizons!"

Saber nodded. He than grabbed Rin's arm, "Get your jacket. We're going out, to discover some non-personal horizons."

^T^Y^A^

"Have you been been by your old house?" Issei asked as he took Shirou's rook with a pawn. Issei had always been a fan of chess, but the only time Shirou got around to playing was when he visited Issei, so the results were unsurprising. The pair were having dinner in a run down tea shop around the corner from the High school – Shirou had spent the day setting up his classroom and ordering lab supplies.

"Yeah, I went by last night – lights are on, so somebody's living there, but it looks pretty run down." Shirou moved another lonely pawn

"Check. And mate" Issei looked at his watch, "I need to get back – I have a young couple that has an appointment to work on their wedding." Issei was now a junior priest up a the Ryuudou shrine. "Are you heading back to the tiger's den?"

"No, I have to finish setting up. I got waylaid into helping fix the projector by Ming li – she teaches Chinese next door."

Issei sighed, "If you were anybody else, I would ask if she was pretty, but this is just Shirou being Shirou. Don't forget to look out for yourself while you are taking care of everybody else."

Shirou paid his tab and helped Issei pack up the game, "Strange words, from a priest."

Shrug. "I know you." Issei paused, before adding, "but it was your example that helped me decide to follow my father into the priesthood."

Shirou was still mulling that over as he made his way back to the school. What Issi had said was really nice, given the overall failure of his life. So he managed to save a few lives here, help a person there. It was still so tiny, so insignificant as to not matter at all, in the greater scheme of things. What was the point of it? People still died.

He had just gone through the main gate when he head a loud crash. He took of at a run in the direction of the athletic field, where the noise was coming from.

There, he found a blue clad man wielding a pair of swords savagely attacking another clad in a _IsiNene_ _\- an_ African style kilt – and not much else. The African was much more collected, blocking the attacks with his spear. Shirou's eyes were immediately dawn to it - it was only five feet long, but at least a foot and a half of that was the blade, and the wielder was using it almost as a sword, to calmly deflect his opponents wild blows. As usual, weapons drew Shirou's eye, imprinting themselves on his psyche. Not a terribly useful skill, but it gave him an edge if anybody attacked him with that weapon (knowing all the possible uses of that weapon, he could predict what attacks were coming)

But despite his calm demeanor the spear wielder was obviously over matched, as he did nothing except defend himself.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Shirou shifted his grip on his walking stick so that he was holding it as a club.

The man in blue turned to face Shirou, and as he did the redhead felt like he had been punched in the stomach – the man's visage was so twisted in anger that it radiated a palpable force. Shirou barely had time to stagger back as the madman leaped to attack him. Shirou managed to deflect one sword, but the other caught him unprepared, ripping through his side.

"Hey, dog. I'm your opponent!" the spear wielding swordsman lunged forward, jabbing at his opponent's side.

As the Berserker's hideous gaze was averted from him, Shirou was able to raspingly draw a breath. He staggered behind the dumpster, clamping a hand to his bleeding side.

As the battle continued, he began to chant in a foreign language. He kept peering at the battle just in case the crazy man with the swords attacked him again. A reddish glow emanated from his hand, and the bleeding stopped and slowed. As a doctor, healing magic came easily to him, though a certain-blond-who-shall-not-be-named had been horrified at the extent to which he used it for personal reinforcement. But Shirou was always practical – if it worked, what did a little pain matter?

"You want me? Then come and get me" The spear man taunted as he leaped up onto the roof of the school, and waited just long enough for his opponent to follow before leaping away.

"What was that about?"

^T^Y^A^

The next day found Shirou back a the school, making photocopies as if nothing had happened. "Are you certain you don't want to go to the police?" Taiga asked for the third time. When Shirou had arrived at her apartment all bloodied last night, he had explained that he had come across two gangs fighting it out on the school, and when he had tried to break it up, one of the gang members had cut him.

Taiga had been beside herself until she had determined that despite the amount of blood, the injury was indeed trivial. After that she had bemoaned how, despite being ten years older than when she saw him last, Shirou still lacked any common sense.

But this morning, when she saw the damage to the athletic field, she again tried to get Shirou to go talk to the police officer inspecting the damage. "This isn't Sierra Leone. You can trust the cops."

"It'll be fine. I didn't really see anything. Besides, it will do the students good to be more cautious at night." Though school was currently out for break, and by the time it started up again, this incident would be old news.

Taiga rolled her eyes and went off to her meeting. She had learned how pig headed her former charge could be. Once he made up his mind, he wasn't going to change it, no matter how glaringly wrong he was. It was like he intended to make the world conform to his view of reality through shear force of will. Idiot.

After lunch, Shirou really got down to work. He wasn't much of a mage – his father had refused to teach him anything, but he had sought to expand his knowledge, first studying with a Jamaican houdon visiting family in Freetown, and then with THAT woman.

He stared in the library, first drawing a quick diagram in chalk on the floor and then the same diagram on a scrap of paper. With a lighter, Shirou burned the strip of paper. As the smoke curled around the chalk mark, he put a pair of seeds and a piece of chicken bone on the sketch. It flared yellow and faded from sight. The ward was in a corner between a wall and the flank of a bookcase, so nobody should disturb it accidentally.

Shirou dusted off his hands as he stood back up: one done. That should keep supernatural entities out of this end of the school. By his calculation, he would need another dozen wards. With his level of mana, that would take several days.

That night, after making dinner for himself and Fujimura, he went up onto the roof and ran through some exercises. It looked like 'Home Sweet Home' wasn't going to be any less dangerous than the African bush, so he needed to get back into practice. He started with some two stick routines, flicking them in a pattern meant to block an attacker with one as he struck with the other before transitioning to one stick, where he often use the empty hand to pin an attackers arm, or strike open hand. Finally, he went to fully bare handed drills, using his reinforced hands as weapons, striking at imaginary opponents in nerve centers, joints and blood vessels – areas that he had learned about as a doctor.

He had once considered training with traditional weapons – swords always called out to him, and he was pretty good with a bow – but carrying them was impractical most places. But with his cane, he was never unarmed.

He finally finished off with some katas, just to cool down. He had gotten good at training on his own, but it would be nice to have a second person to practice with.

^T^Y^A^

Shirou leaned on the gate and inspected his handiwork – it was Friday afternoon, and the wards were complete. He was just turning to go when a sharp voice interrupted his composure

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Excuse me?" He turned to discover a short woman dressed in an cocktail dress berating him. The short was not unusual, as he was taller than most Japanese men, but it was too early in the day for the party dress.

"What do you think you are doing with those lame ass wards? Are you TRYING to get the attention of every passing mage, or are you just a retard? And why didn't you check in with me when you moved to my city?"

Shirou shrank under the verbal barrage. He was at a loss as to how to handle an attractive young woman talking to him like that. "I'm just trying to keep the kids safe. There was some sort of magical beings – spirits or something – fighting it out here a few days ago." Shirou paused, and added, "And why should I check in with you?" as his self confidence resurfaced.

"I'm the second owner, baka. It's my job to keep track of what other mages are here, and what projects they are working on, so if if one of them escapes and starts making a mess of things in Fuyuki, I know what I'm dealing with."

"Oh" The more she spoke, the less attractive she became, making it easier for Shirou to talk to her, "in that case, Do you happen to know what went down over in the athletic field earlier this week?"

"Yeah. " She paused, before pronouncing "Saber." The spear wielder faded into view, now dressed in his red dashiki . "It's the Heavens Feel ritual. Seven mages, paired with seven heroic spirits are fighting for access to the Third magic. You should stay inside and lock your doors if you don't want to be gutted. My Saber won't necessarily be around to save your ass next time."

"You know, it's very jarring, how you dress like a elegant lady, but talk like a dock worker. And you didn't even tell me your name"

Now it was the woman's turn to look sheepish, "Sorry, I'm kind of out of practice socializing. My work keeps me busy, and most people are assholes. I'm Rin Tohsaka" She stuck out her hand

Saber rolled his eyes before mouthing 'Hikikomori" as his pointer finger twitched towards Rin.

"Mm. I see." As Shirou shook Rin's hand, he turned to Saber, "She hasn't left her house in years has she?"

Saber nodded "I had to jump start her car. And replace all four tires."

"Hey!"

Shirou cocked his head in puzzlement, "Aren't you a heroic spirit from ancient times?" He knew a little about this Heavens Feel ritual. It was (in)famous in the magical world as a complete dumpster fire that had failed four times in a row, with a high casualty count.

Saber laughed, "We get basic skills when we are summoned, otherwise we'd be completely useless from culture shock."

"I will have you know that I just don't like to drive. I walk when I need to go out. Like I am doing now." Rin turned and stalked off, "Come along Saber."

Saber smiled with affection at his master's antics. As he turned to follow, he faded from view.

Shirou waved bemusedly. It had been a very strange day. At least he had discovered another mage, and possibly one that could be an ally in keeping trouble under control. Trouble was Shirou's generic term for anything that threatened the people he was caring for, either bureaucrats trying to embezzle medicine from a hospital in Sierra Leone to asanbosam raiding a refugee camp in Nigeria.

But he would give this Rin a day to calm down before talking to her about any possible collaboration – she seemed a little high strung. Though honestly, it was refreshing to see a woman who was that straightforward. No mind games or double entendres.

After double checking his wards one last time, he set off for home. As was his habit, he took a different road everyday, so as to learn more of the city.

This time, his path led him to one of the seedier neighborhoods, with run down apartment buildings mixed in with second floor import export firms, and other small businesses that didn't bother with a retail space.

It was just starting to get dark when Shirou smelled a sickly sweet aroma, as of rotting fruit. He stopped and began to turn in a circle. It was then that he heard a muffled sound from a narrow alley that he had just passed. Grabbing his walking stick with both hands, he pulled it apart into a pair of short rods and stalked into the alley.

Partly hidden by a dumpster, a woman in fetishistic clothing was holding a weakly struggling man in an embrace. His heels drummed on the sidewalks and then stopped.

"Let him go!" Shirou hissed.

The woman turned and complied, letting the body drop to the pavement. She was wearing a blind fold, and her hair whipped around like in a strong breeze.

As Shirou charged at her, she waited patiently before leaping up, bouncing off of the alley wall and landing behind Shirou.

But as she reached to grab the redhead, he whirled around with lightning speed, bringing up one of his sticks to smash her hand away. Before she could react, Shirou moved unnatural fast, bringing his sticks around in a series of rapid strikes at her vulnerable points – the temples, her collar bone. As she tried to block the attack, he tried to strike the top of her arm to sweep it out of the way.

The woman blurred into motion herself, blocking the attacks with a pair of spikes attached to a chain. But then a wave of light covered Shirou and he moved even faster, striking her on the side of the head.

The woman sprang back, and then up onto the roof. Shirou waited, at the ready, in case another attack was forthcoming, but there was nothing. He dropped his self-reinforcement before he completely exhausted his mana. Or shattered a bone.

He bent down to examine the body. It was a nondescript man, a little overweight. There was no mark on him. For all the world, he looked like he had died of a heart attack.

Shirou stood up cautiously and began to walk home. He hadn't gone more than a block before he sensed something moving on a roof next to him, pacing him.

This was bad. He couldn't go home to Taiga's with whatever it was following him – probably that woman from earlier. There were no wards set up at the apartment, and he didn't want to bring trouble down on Fujimura's head.

He kept walking at the same pace, pretending nothing was wrong, as he wracked his brain for where to go. If he knew where Tohsaka lived, that would be an option, but he hadn't asked. While it would have been a good idea, it would have been a kind of creepy, stalker-ish thing to do.

His dad's old place. The Emiya estate was warded, and he had reinforced the wards on the tool shed as a teenager. It was the only option. He just hoped that whoever had moved in would stay indoors.

As he got to the fancier part of town, the buildings got lower and spaced further apart, making it more difficult for the vampire woman to follow him. He was almost at the estate when an arrow shot down at him. His trained senses heard the slight hiss of the air, and he threw himself to the side, barely avoiding getting shot, and ran for it, vaulting the wall.

His pursuer followed, leaping up onto the wall and raining down arrows as Shirou ran for the shed. Just as he reached the door, an arrow nicked his calf.

As his leg buckled from the pain, he threw his shoulder against the door and fell inside. His vision began to swim, and everything was limed in a reddish light. He kicked the door shut and crawled past his dad's old bike towards a defensible position. The pain in his leg was spreading, and now his entire leg pulsed in agony. Poison.

He heard somebody land outside the shed "Come out, come out, little rabbit. My master says I shouldn't kill you, but maybe she will change her mind."

Shirou head pulsed and his vision swam. He heard the vampire woman say something else. And then strangely, a woman's voice replied from inside the shed. He must have blacked out momentarily, for he heard a crash, as of a window breaking, but he didn't see it. But then he saw the vampire woman fighting against a blond woman wielding a sword.

He watched the battle through haze. _'She's pretty'_. Her appearance was more severe than Luvia, but watching her move – the fluidity and grace, as well as the passion. Shirou was entranced. And Luvia was too frivolous, anyways.

Next thing he knew, his eyes snapped open and he screamed as the agony in his leg became too much even for him. Luvia was holding him as he spasmed in pain. "Hold on, Shirou. Arturia, get him into the house!" the voice sounded distant and echo-y.


	2. Chapter 2

Since many of the servants are coming in as different classes, here is a cheat sheet to help you keep track:

Arturia = Servant Rider

Medusa = Servant Archer

Cu Chulainn = Servant Berserker

? (take a wild guess) = Servant Saber

Chapter

"Why didn't you let me finish her off?" Saber demanded as he materialized in Rin's parlor.

"Finish her off? You hadn't even started! I had sent you out on a scouting mission. I explicitly told you that I didn't want you fighting with any of the other Servants until we knew more about who our opponents were. But you went jumping right into the fray, forcing me to use a command seal!" Rin was frothing mad, one hand on her hip , the other busy wagging her finger at Saber. Today, she was dressed in a ball gown.

"Rin, she was killing people," Saber replied simply.

"I know that! And she was using their life force to gain more prana, but if we don't know who we are up against, the risk of being taken by surprise, of being ambushed or... or it's too much of a risk. We can't afford to lose!"

Saber sighed and ran a hand over his face, "There are worse things than losing."

"Not for me." Rin blurted out before pausing to think it over, "It's part of who I am, I guess. Or more accurately, who I want the world to think I am." She plucked at the dress she was wearing, "I bet you've been wondering about why I dress like this?" As Saber nodded, she continued, "It's because of this persona I created in High school. Of the perfect honors student, the school idol. I excelled at everything. At academics, at my appearance. Everything."

"Sounds exhausting" Saber commented gently.

"Yeah, tell me about it! Especially when I have to deal with people. It's too complicated. It's so hard to predict what they will say and do, to be ready for anything." She flopped down onto her couch. Strangely, it felt good to talk to Saber. Maybe it was because it didn't matter what he thought of her, as he would be gone after the Heavens Feel was done. Or maybe it was the opposite - that no matter what she said, he was still nice to her.

Saber sat down next to Rin, "Rin, do you like who you are?"

"I... I don't know. I haven't really thought about it in a long time."

There was long pause in conversation as the two – master and servant sat quietly side by side "Saving people is who I am. And it is something I greatly value."

Rin digested this before nodding and replying quietly, "ok".

^T^Y^A^

Shirou wasn't certain how much time had passed, but when he next opened his eyes, he was still in pain, just not as much, but there was still something wrong with his vision – he was seeing two of the blond woman.

"Oni-chan is awake!" The one who had been holding a wet cloth to his head pronounced. The other one – the one with a severe look on her face - immediately turned to face him.

"I know you are injured, but I must ask: Are you my master?"

Shirou was not certain what was going on, or why the attractive blond in the biker jacket was asking him strange questions.

"Say yes, Shirou!" cajoled the other. Except for the lack of a biker jacket, she looked almost identical to the first, "Arturia is a great servant, though I never expected to see her as a Rider class."

"Yes?" Shirou acquiesced. a tingling sensation went up his arm, but he ignored it for the moment, as he had more pressing issues: "who are you?" He was momentarily surprised not to see Luvia, but in retrospect that was probably a hallucination caused by the poison. Neither of the women looked that much like her. The one with the wet cloth was the one doing most of the talking, while the other was more calm and focused. She must have been the swords-woman. "Are you twins?"

The bubbly one laughed, "I'm Illyasviel Emiya – your half sister. And that is Arturia, heroic spirit Rider. Though my current body is based on my memory of her."

"Current.. body?" Shirou sat up, to discover that he wasn't wearing anything, at least on top. He instinctively reached up to his neck, but the pendant was still there – it looked identical to the one that Rin had used to summon Servant Saber. Otherwise, his lack of a shirt didn't bother him. Not knowing what the blond girl was talking about – that bothered him. In his experience, certain types of supernatural entities were the only ones that talked about 'current bodies,' and they were generally inimical to humans.

"My mother was a homunculus, so my body doesn't grow quite right. So I had grampa von Einzbern make me a new one a few years back." Illya saw no need to mention how the request was crouched, or the fact that her old body had been on the verge of collapse because 'grampa von Einzbern' hadn't seen fit to make the requisite adjustments over the years so that she could grow into it because, according to him, she as a disposable tool. But her relationship with Gramps was much better now. And it would stay that way as long as he remained useful (or until he stopped breathing. Whichever came first).

"Wait... weren't you that girl that warned me..." Illya nodded. She looked very different, dressed casually in jeans in and a t-shirt. It was this other woman, this Arturia, that now looked more like a noblewoman, despite the modern clothes.

"And you are Arturia?"

Cold eyes watched him as she gave a slight incline of the head. "And you are my master." The way she said it implied that that was the only reason she was tolerating him.

"So I guess I'm part of this crazy Holy Grail war now."

"You do not sound excited by the prospect", Arturia asked, "Do you not have a wish? The Grail can grant anything you desire."

"Wait – I though it had something to do with some theoretical magic thing, about gaining magical knowledge or power or something?" He had heard rumors of the the ritual, but had never paid any attention to them, as it had nothing to do with him or his interests. Little did he know.

"That too, but that aspect is only of interest to the magus. The wish part was added as a bribe for the Heroic spirit. Otherwise what is their motivation? Though both the magus and the servant each get a wish, of course."

"Oh, that's all right, then" Shirou replied, leaning back on the bed, straightening his pendant, "we're handing out wishes to the most scheming and violent individual participating in a murder ritual." Seeing the blank looks on the two women's faces, he added, "I am being sarcastic. It's an incredibly bad idea. Of course I'm going to participate, if only keep that power out the hands of that vampire woman or the crazy blue guy."

Arturia turned her full attention on Shirou, "And what of my wish – will you prevent me from that as well?"

"Depends." Shirou sat back up. He didn't notice, but Illya was having a hard time not focusing on his chest as the muscles rippled each time he lay down or sat back up. He was in remarkably good shape, for a doctor. With a surprising number of scars as well. "What is your wish?"

Arturia paused, considering Shirou. He gave off a very familiar feeling – an intensity of character and narrowness of focus. It was almost like being home, in Camelot. But he was still an Emiya, "That is private."

Shirou shrugged, "I'm not going to stand for anything that will hurt people." He returned Arturia's gaze. Neither moved for several moments, "But you don't seem like the sort that would do that."

Arturia gave a small nod. "Protecting the people is my goal as well."

"Since you summoned her without a catalyst, it makes sense that the two of you would share your values." Illya interposed, trying to defuse the tension. "But first thing first, you will have to go to the Grail war moderator and check in."

Shirou rolled his eyes, "What, is the mage association all bureaucrats? Everybody needs me to 'check in'. First that Tohsaka woman, now this guy!"

"It's good to at least meet the moderator. If your Servant is killed, you can seek sanctuary from him, and the moderator will often pass out useful information."

Shirou sighed as he sat back up. "Well, I guess we should go." Illya nodded as she watched. "Um, can I have a little privacy to get dressed?"

"Oh, yeah." Illya colored slightly and turned to go.

"Why? I have seen plenty of soldiers undressed, as they had their injuries bound," Arturia countered, looking at Shirou with mild curiosity, but not the naked interest that Illya had displayed. Illya turned back, to see how this would play out. Besides, she got more eye candy this way.

"And so have I, but this is a little different." Shirou was starting to get uncomfortable with the attention. It's not like when he was a teenager, but having two (attractive) woman not giving him privacy was awkward.

Arturia scowled, "I do not like having my master out of my sight" Illya nodded agreement. Shirou sat and glared back at the two women. With a sigh and a shake of her head at her Master's foolishness, Arturia stepped out of the room.

^T^Y^A^

"So tell me about this moderator," Shirou asked Illya as he got off of his motorcycle – Illya had ridden second with him, and Arturia had used the motorcycle that had materialized in the shed with her when she was summoned. They parked some distance from the Kotomine church, as Shirou wanted to walk the last bit of the way – the approach to the church just seemed like such a perfect ambush point.

Illya was less concerned - she was almost skipping as she walked by his side, an umbrella keeping the light mist of of her. Arturia walked a little of to one side and back, where she could keep an eye out.

"Oh, he's kind of a creepy guy. I met him once, during the previous war. There was something off about him." She paused and stepped closer to Shirou, "Here, do you want me to hold my umbrella over you?"

Shirou quickly stepped away, "No, thank you – it's not really raining."

Arturia almost smirked at the other woman's antics. She was still much like the child she remembered.

When they arrived at the church, she said, "inside is neutral ground, but out here is not. I will stand guard, in case any magus is planning an ambush." Shirou nodded, and he pushed open the church door, Illya at his side.

The church was a dark building, ill lit with a pair of candles at the front and some weak overhead lights. The intention was probably to focus the attendees attention on the priest at the front, but with the building empty, it simply felt cavernous, like the lair of some large beast.

"Why hello there," The priest stepped dramatically out from a side passage. Despite the cheerful demeanor, he appeared an ascetic – he was thin to the point of being cadaverous. "I am Father Kirei Kotomine, " He eyed Shirou speculatively, taking in the slight discoloration of the command seals, and then inspecting the rest of him, much like an artist examines his model. Or a butcher examines a side of beef, "You must be the final member of our happy little cast. Are you here to join the Holy Grail war?"

Shirou nodded cautiously. Illya was right – there was something wrong with this man. He struck Shirou as being from the same mold as some hospital administrators he had met, who weren't there to save people, but to make money.

"Marvelous. Then let the games begin." Kirei smiled, "For, as they say, all the world is a stage, and you lot are the players thereon." When Shirou did not respond, he added, "go forth, my player, and we will see what comes."

Illyasviel gave a shiver at this. Shirou did not much care for this Kirei either – he did not say anything further to the skeletal man before pivoting and heading back out the door.

As Shirou and the others stepped out into the (relative) light of the misty afternoon and then turned down the street, they were confronted with a woman dressed in a closely tailored business suit. The business woman glanced at the two twin blond women accompanying Shirou as her frown deepened further. "Where is he?"

"Excuse me?" Shirou asked, as at the same time Arturia stepped off to the side and her biker jacket and jeans magically transformed into armor. She scowled - she still wasn't used to being Rider: she should have ridden her bike all the way to the church instead of leaving it half a mile away.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Don't play the innocent. Berserker – put the Servant down!"

The man in blue faded into sight, swords drawn, "Nothing personal, lassie, but the lady says you gotta die." His appearance was much less savage than the last time Shirou had seen him. As he advanced on Arturia, Bazett fixed her leather gloves and then leaped forward, lashing out at Shirou. As the redhead jumped back, Bazett was knocked off coarse by a pair of glowing blue birds that leaped from Illya's hands, "did you forget about me?"

Yellow runes flashed across Bazett's suite as they absorbed the attack, "Berserker, stop playing with her: the sex doll here can fight as well."

Berserker had been fencing with Arturia, with nether side able to gain advantage, but now his visage began to deform. One eye swelled shut, while the other grew to the size of a grapefruit, and his jaw twisted into an animistic scowl. He leaped forward, pressing in on Arturia, who was now having a hard time defending herself – as Rider class, many of her abilities were at their best when mounted, but Berserker had pushed her into the trees by the side of the road, where there was no room for a motorcycle, even if she had the time to summon a mount.

Two more birds formed in Illya's hands and swept up to circle Bazett, who took a defensive stance,

"Illya, hold her back!" Shirou turned and ran to help Arturia, swinging his walking stick like a cudgel. He reinforced his body, drawing as much speed as he could without injury. And with his knowledge of the human body, and acceptance of pain, that was a lot,

Berserker still easily deflected his attack. But the momentary change in focus let Arturia go on the offensive. She lashed out with her invisible sword, pushing Berserker back out into the open.

Bazett was surrounded by twin spheres. On the outside, Illya's bird spells, and on the inside , glowing runes that paced the birds, blocking their way in. Both mages were crafting more of each, but the disparity between them was clear. Illya was doing so easily, and every once in a while Bazett did not have a rune out in time to block an attack, and she had to dance to the side to avoid the spell. Illya was almost smiling as she waited for her opponent to slip up. All it would take would be one hit, and it would be all over. And with her raw power, she would easily outlast the other woman.

Arturia had just thrown Berserker back with invisible wind when, with a roar, he changed from a supremely ugly man to something completely inhuman. His feet twisted all the way around, his body bulged in an unnatural fashion, and his mere presence was like being hit in the gut. As Arturia staggered, the monster leaped forward, bringing a sword across her body.

"NO!" Shirou was a master at ignoring pain, at ignoring reality, when others were in danger. He leaped forward, attacking Berserker before he could complete his attack.

Berserker staggered back momentarily, forced to block Shirous' attacks.

One block...

a second block...

Shirou was thrown into a tree with another earth shaking roar.

Bazett meanwhile had used her dancing between Illya's spells to close the distance between the two, so that with a surge of speed she lashed out, catching the blond woman by surprise as she jabbed her in the chin with her enchanted fist. Actual combat experience made a difference.

But as the blond girl sank to the ground, Bazett looked over at why Berserker was roaring, to see Shirou throw himself between the servant and Arturia again. He was staggering, and one hand was holding his side.

"Berserker. Stop. We have the wrong one." Bazett called out. As the blue clad behemoth froze, Arturia angrily threw Shirou behind her and took a defensive stance. "Artem's lackeys would never risk themselves for a sex doll." After a moment, Bazett added, "We are leaving."

Berserker reverted to human and, grabbing Bazett, leaped into the sky.

Arturia turned onto Shirou "Do not ever EVER do something like that. It is stupid, dangerous and demeaning to me as a warrior!" As she roared at him, Shirou toppled to the ground. The last thing he heard was "oh, not again".

* * *

Hello all, thank you for reading my story. Sorry for the short chapter - it was a busy week.

Please check out my P. atreon page. and support my original writing as well.

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	3. Chapter 3

Since many of the servants are coming in as different classes, here is a cheat sheet to help you keep track:

Arturia = Servant Rider

Medusa = Servant Archer

Cu Chulainn = Servant Berserker

? (take a wild guess) = Servant Saber

Also, Ilya in my story most closely resembles Ilya from the second half of the 'Fate' route. She is not the angry little girl repressing her emotions anymore.

.

CHAPTER

"Um, Hi, Fujimura" Shirou greeted Taiga as the latter opened the door into her apartment.

"Where were you! I was just about to go to the police department! You never showed up last night, didn't call or anything... Is that pie?" Fujimura had just gotten home from work to find her (missing) surrogate brother already in her apartment. And it smelled like something was baking. "That doesn't get you off the hook! I know you have gotten used to living on your own, but you need to act responsible when you are staying with somebody. You'll learn about that when you find yourself a girl" She paused "Oh, god, I hope you weren't having sex with some floozy. If you were, I don't want to know about it!"

"Um, yeah, no. Come in," Shirou took her purse to put on the hook. "Taiga Fujimura, this is Illyasviel Emiya, my step sister." Shirou stepped out of the way and waved at the blond seated in the dining room, "And that next to her is her cousin, Ar..Rider."

"Ariadne? They look like twins." Taiga walked into the dining room. "Wait – step sister?"

"Yeah, I ran into her last night, and we got to talking, that's why I didn't get home." Shirou had recovered from passing out earlier due to over reinforcing (and overexerting) his body, but he still looked a little wan. So it was good that there were others here to distract the Taiga from her prey.

Especially Illya: "Hi, I'm really happy to meet you! Shirou has told me so much about you!" Illya bounced over to Taiga, who scowled suspiciously at the younger woman. Arturia meanwhile sat and nonchalantly nursed her tea.

"How do you know Shirou?" Taiga asked.

"Why don't we talk over dinner – the food is all ready." Shirou disappeared into the kitchen to bring out the serving platters full of food.

"Oh, I had started digging into my family tree a few years ago, and when I discovered Shirou, I began to follow his career. Did you know he was a doctor in Africa, and he volunteered to work in refugee camps? " As Illya bubbled Taiga nodded along, and Shirou brought more food out. Nobody noticed as Arturia sampled the first dish, or saw how large her eyes got.

"Shirou, sit, eat!" Illya grabbed Shirou's arm and pulled him down as he tried to return to the kitchen for another tray of food. As he attempted to keep moving, she latched on tight until he sat down. "Did you know that Shirou is a hero?" Shirou tensed up as Illya rambled on, then relaxed as she continued speaking about his medical career only. "When Boko Haran blew up that truck, it was Shirou who saved the lives of dozens of villagers who were badly injured. And that was just that one time. There was also the Lahsa fever incident!"

Taiga watched in bemusement as Illya served food onto Shirou's plate. Dinner past amicably, as Illya chattered, and spooned food onto Shirou's plate periodically. Meanwhile Arturia ate quietly, using her immense self control to keep from wolfing the food down like she hadn't eaten in a week (because in reality, he had never eaten food like this before).

As Shirou got up to clear the table, Taiga joined him in the kitchen, "Are you certain she's you step sister? She's kind of.. clingy." Taiga didn't know how else to describe the ardent hero worship.

Shirou just shrugged.

"What about that Ariadne, though – did you do something to piss her off?"

"It's that obvious?

Taiga just nodded.

"Um, yeah. I did something stupid."

 _Flashback to road outside church_

" _Oni-san, are you ok?" Illya leaned over Shirou, her hand on his chest to check his od._

 _Shirou's eyes fluttered open, "Uh, yeah, but I think I overdid it. I feel weak."_

 _Arturia just glared at him. 'Oh, right. She is a warrior.' Shirou tried to imagine what it would feel like to have somebody protecting him, getting in his way, when he didn't need it. "Um, Arturia? I'm really sorry for.." he scrambled to his feet and bowed_

" _Rider."_

" _Excuse me?"_

" _When we are in public, call me Rider. Using my actual name risks revealing who I am to other masters. And information is power."_

" _Um, right, I just want to apologize for not thinking" He bowed again._

 _Arturia wasn't certain how to respond. His individual personality traits were so like Kiritsugu, but when you put them all together, you got somebody who was so completely different. While one had abandoned his ideals in order to achieve his (once noble) goals, the other reeked of idealism, but without a sense of how to achieve them. It was like looking at a fun house mirror. But she wasn't certain if she was looking at Kiritsugu reflected there, or herself._

 _She just turned and started walking for home. "We need to get back."_

 _As they walked home, Shirou froze "Oh, shoot. Taiga! She will be worried when I didn't show up last night. If I don't show my face at her apartment, she will call the police."_

 _Illya, who had been watching the scene with Arturia with bemusement asked,"Do you you want me to come with you?"_

" _Yes! Please!" He could hide behind her from Taiga's wrath. "I'll tell her I just discovered I had a step sister – family is very important for Taiga." '_ Which may be why she keeps trying to get me married off' _mused Shiro._

 _End flashback_

After dinner, Shirou walked Illyasviel back to her house. "Thank you for all your help with everything. I know you aren't directly involved with the Holy Grail war, but do you mind if I use you as a resource? I need to figure out what my," He glanced at Arturia, "our, next move should be. And you seem to know a lot about this."

"I should – my mother's family helped develop this ritual. And yes, I would love to help oni-chan!" She almost bounced, looking like a girl half her age. "Why don't you stay over so that we can plan our next move?"

"Actually, that is a very good idea," Ariadne, er that is Arturia interjected, "The Emiya estate is warded, and if we do get attacked there, it is set off from the neighbors, so there is less chance of bystanders getting injured."

Shirou nodded and grinned at his servant, who looked away, pretending that her comment had nothing to do with Shirou's beliefs.

^T^Y^A^

As the three sat at Illya's table, and a maid brought tea, Shirou began, "So here is what we know so far: Rin Tohsaka is the master of Saber, but she is a responsible person, and not a threat to others."

"We will still have to deal with her – we can not both win." Arturia reminded her master. If his idealism wasn't so such an impediment to her attaining her wish, it would actually be very appealing. But for the greater good, she had to keep him focused on winning this foolish war.

"I understand," Shirou nodded placatingly, "But we can leave her for last, after we have dealt with the more serious threats, such as the vampire woman. I know you want to win, but my goal is to keep people safe. This strategy is a compromise."

"I do not like this strategy," Arturia scowled momentarily before admitting, "but I am not certain if I would be able to disregard the safety of the civilians either."

"From what I saw in in the brief attack here, I think the vampire is Servant Archer."

"That makes sense. And we also know Berserker. I am not certain what his master wants – she has some agenda, and she is dangerous."

"I don't think she was attacking us at random – from what she said before the fighting began, I think she believed us already allied with her enemy."

Shirou sipped his tea, "Ok, so not evil. Just poor judgment and a hair trigger temper. Just perfect."

"Well, she is the master of Berserker," Illya skootched over to Shirou, who subconsciously moved away, to maintain his personal space.

^T^Y^A^

Bazett punched the pimp again. "Where did you get these girls?" They were in a seedy apartment, with Berserker looking in through the doorway while his master carried out her interrogation. Further in, two pretty women sat on the ratty couch, smiling vacantly. Despite looking attentive, they didn't appear to be cognizant of their surroundings.

The pimp wiped his mouth and staggered up from the ground. "I already told you, one of my guys hired them, I don't know not'ing about it. Is one of them your sister or something?" As he talked, he surreptitiously reached for a pistol hidden in his pants.

Bazett lashed out at his arm, there was a small flash of light, and the man grasped his now paralyzed arm. The gun clattered to the ground. A moment later, he followed it down.

"Damn." Bazett turned to the girls. "Does the name Atram mean anything to you?" She demanded.

The girls continued to smile and shifted to a more comfortable position, "No, I don't think so," one answered in a sultry rasp.

With a growl, Bazett spun on her heals. "Lets' go Berserker."

"You care to tell me what that was about?" He asked, as he faded from view, "I though we were here for the Holy Grail war."

"We are. But only because Atrem is also a master. I want that foul sack of... I want his head on on a pike and his balls under my heel. He kidnaps girls and does... that to them" She stalked out of the tenement, finally adding, "One of them was my sister. I still haven't found her."

Berserker considered that for a moment before shrugging, "Works for me."

^T^Y^A^

"This is... This is really great!" Rin expounded. She glanced around at the cityscape laid out before her. Didn't she used to do stuff like this, before? Saber had carried her, in a single bound, up to the top of the suspension bridge over Fuyuki river. She stood peering into the night, as the breeze whipped around her. "Will you be able to see the other servants from this high up?

"Not as much as an Archer, but well enough. I can reinforce my eyes."

"Hmm?" Rin turned to look at her companion, "You talk like a Magus. Are you certain you're a swordsman?" She adjusted the spell on the jewel in her pocket so that it radiated a bit more heat.

"Actually, I'm not a swordsman. I was more of a jack of all trades." He paused, "You could say that the one thing I did specialize in was helping people."

Rin considered, "Sounds kind of pointless. For every person you help, there are going to be ten that you can't."

Saber sighed, "Yeah. That always bothered me. The only thing that let me keep my sanity was seeing those people who I did help, after the fact. It made me feel like I had accomplished something, even if it was very small and limited."

Rin turned to face him, "And you got to be a Heroic Spirit for doing 'small and limited' acts of kindness?"

Saber just shrugged and smiled, "It was a surprise to me as well."

Rin examined her Servant – he was wearing his Dashiki, as usual, but despite his dark skin, he was clearly not African. He was class Saber, but he didn't wield a sword. He claimed to not have accomplished any great deeds, but he was a Heroic Spirit. And there was that pendant that looked so much like her heirloom, which was just barely visible under his shirt , but which he refused to discuss. "You're lying."

"Everybody lies. The only question is whether it is to protect themselves or to protect others." Saber scooped up Rin, "Lets move further in town, I think I see a Servant there."

Rin gave a yelp as Saber leaped down to the road, and then off to the city center.

^T^Y^A^

Caster hovered above the freight yard, casting bolts of magical energy down at Berserker, who dodged as he tried to draw Caster towards the cranes, in the hope of using them to gain some altitude.

' _What's the problem?'_ Bazett demanded over her link with her servant, _'How come you are having such a hard time?'_

 _'She's too far away.'_ Berserker ducked into warehouse, but Caster did not follow him in, _'And I've always had trouble fighting women.'_

 _'You didn't have any problem with Rider.'_

 _'She didn't strike me as a woman. That one has lost touch with her humanity. Is this one your buddy Artem's servant?'_

 _'He's not my buddy. He is a vile creature that enslaves women, brainwashes them and then sells them as sex toys to criminal cartels.'_ Berserker could hear Bazett's teeth grind even over the link, _'But yes, I think so. He always did like using women as his tools. Can you move to another building? Caster is preparing some sort of spell."_

 _'On it._ '

 _'Wait - another servant arrived. I don't think Caster sees him yet – his master just unleashed a spell, and caster is turning to respond. Now's your chance!'_ Bazett didn't even consider the option of waiting for the other servants to fight it out first.

^T^Y^A^

"Now, Saber!" Rin shouted, as Caster dodged her lightning strike. It was lot more effective than her old stand-by – the Gandr- but it only worked in a wide open space like here.

As Caster dodged, raising a glowing pentagram as a shield, a spear flew up from a warehouse roof, shattering on her protective spell. Despite the cowl hiding her features, her displeasure was clear as she retaliated with a stream of spells, forcing both Rin and Saber to dodge and run, but as she dealt with these attackers, she lost track of her own position, and was surprised as Berserker threw himself onto her, grasping her with one claw-like hand as he reached with the other towards her face. Her eyes gaped large before she dissolved into black mist.

Berserker landed neatly on the roof, only to dodge as a spear almost impaled him

 _'Berserker, retreat – there is nothing to be gained fighting that one.'_

' _What'd'ya mean? A fight's a fight. They're all good.'_ But the blue clad monstrosity could feel his masters displeasure seeping through over their link, like a migraine. Besides, she did have a point - with his enemy lurking out of sight on the opposite roof, he was in a bad position, and he had not yet lost all capacity for reason. With a grimace, he flung himself into the air, away from the battle.

^T^Y^A^

Shirou was doing his best to walk without a limp – Arturia already did not approve of him going with her to look for the vampire servant (Archer or whichever she was) and looking injured would just add coals to that fire.

So far, he was the more stubborn of the two. Barely.

"If the vampire servant isn't actively attacking somebody, there is no way that you'll be able to recognize her," Shirou argued as he followed Arturia through the the silent neighborhood..

"And I already explained that if she's not attacking somebody, she will most likely be in spiritual form – you won't be able to see her."

"Then why aren't you in spirit form when we go out in public."

Arturia paused, "There is something wrong with the way I was summoned."

"Is it because I didn't summon you?" Shirou interrupted, "I know you never returned to the Throne of heroes after the fourth war – otherwise you wouldn't remember Illyasviel."

Arturia shrugged. But she didn't say anything as Shirou walked up beside her. Perhaps in the hope that he would drop the topic.

"So what have you been doing since the end of the last war? Worrying about what you did, and what you think you should have done?" Shirou prodded.

Arturia didn't reply. The road was empty, as all the local shops had closed shortly after the surrounding factories.

"You strike me as a perfectionist, the sort that gets angry at herself when she doesn't do as well as expected." Shirou wasn't certain why he kept pushing, but for some reason Arturia's refusal to take pride in her own accomplishments grated on him. She never talked about her past, either the fourth war, or her life before she became a servant, as if it was insignificant. But she was one of the greatest heroes of all time!"

Arturia stopped and pivoted, "and you are here because you can't stand to delegate!" She snapped.

Shirou grimaced unexpectadly, "yeah, I've been told that."

Arturia put a hand on Shirou's arm, "I'm sorry if I brought up something painful."

"We're a pair aren't we?"

"I don't know what you mean," Arturia turned back to the road, scanning the buildings in a way that indicated she was done with the conversation. They they were exiting the main factory area, and heading up towards the more upscale - yet equally empty - financial district.

Shirou just smiled.

As they walked through the empty financial district streets, a woman came walking towards them at an assured, no nonsense gait. As Arturia stepped warily to the side, Shirou froze.

"Sakura?"

"Hello, sempai" the purple haired woman was dressed in a severe suit, to all appearances a serious salary woman, but when she stopped and smiled, she transformed back into the young woman that Shirou remembered. "You look good."

"Thank you," Shirou nodded. "How are you doing? It's been a long time." Despite this being Sakura, something felt off. Perhaps it was just meeting her out here, in an empty street, or perhaps it was the way that she held herself, with a certain arrogance. Or it was the way that her smile faded away like a shadow.

"'I'm better. I have achieved a lot, sempai. I'm no longer a little girl that clings to others. I am an independent woman of the world" She smiled again, but this time she did not look happy.

"I am glad for you." There was an awkward silence. There were so many things he could say. 'I missed you' or 'I'd like to stay in touch more'. But he didn't know how to say them without seeming like a hypocrite, so he stayed silent.

"I see you're still wearing the pendant I gave you" Sakura points to the the crystal dangling on Shirou's neck.

Shirou nodded, "It's a symbol of something I cherished." After a moment, he tucked it back inside his shirt, out of sight. "I wish you would understand why I can't just ignore the world around me to focus exclusively on you" He finally blurted out.

"I understand. You are a good person" Sakura nodded, tears in her eyes, "Archer, kill him."

* * *

Hello all, thank you for reading my story.

I am just adding a quick note here to tell you that I am going to try my hand at original writing, and that if you want to help support me in my endeavors (or if you just want to watch me struggle and fail), come check out my page.

P atreon com / writeshop

I will continue to write Fanfiction as well, and your support will help motivate me to write faster

I plan to update this story once a week


	4. Chapter 4

Since many of the servants are coming in as different classes, here is a cheat sheet to help you keep track:

Arturia = Servant Rider

Medusa = Servant Archer

Cu Chulainn = Servant Berserker

? (take a wild guess) = Servant Saber

Chapter

Shirou threw himself sideways as a trio of arrows hit where he had been standing a moment ago. Arturia immediately leaped for the roof from whence they had come.

Shirou rolled under a parked SUV and then out the other side. "Why are you doing this? This isn't like you."

"Oh, this is like me. Just like me." Sakura sliced her hand with a pen knife and threw droplets of black blood at Shirou, who ducked behind the car. The droplets ate into the vehicle, sizzling, "You just didn't know me very well, sempai. That's not your fault – I didn't let you know me, because I am actually not a very nice girl." She walked to circle around the SUV, lashing out with a whip of black force that dangled from the gash on her hand

Shirou smashed through the storefront of a bookstore and dodged for cover, keeping his distance from Sakura as she followed him in, primly stepping over the broken glass.

"And as to why I am doing this? I need that wish. Very much. Even the additional life force Archer has been stealing for me is not enough to hold the worms back anymore."

^T^Y^A^

As Arturia ran across the roof towards Archer, the other woman calmly held up a snake, which stiffened like an rod. She placed it on her bow and launched it at her opponent. Her hair moved like it was being buffeted by gusts of wind.

Arturia used Invisible Air to deflect the arrow, but as soon as her magic touched it, the arrow exploded in a spray of poison. She dodge away from the cloud of noxious green droplets, but several drops still caught her, burning painfully.

Archer calmly jumped to the fire escape of the neighboring building and launched three arrows simultaneously, her hair writhing like snakes.

^T^Y^A^

Berserker turned to face Saber, but before he could bring the full force of his visage to bear, Rin launched a spray of Gander shot at him, ' _He looks like he's already diseased! Will this even work on him?'_

Berserker easily dodged the slow moving spell, but seeing Rin dressed in a ball gown had a greater effect on him – he always did have a hard time maintaining his rage when attractive women were around..

As Saber cut at his side with the spear, Berserker blocked with one sword, but before he could counter attack, Rin cast a spell, making the air around him feel like it was molasses.

 _'Berserker, get out of there – we don't gain anything by fighting this pair.'_ Bazett sent silently. Berserker let out a roar, stunning Saber and shattering the surrounding windows. Before the African dressed man could recover, Berserker leaped away.

 _'I bet his master was somewhere safe, observing remotely.'_ Rin sent silently as she wiped the blood that was dribbling from her ears. ' _I think next time, I should do the same.'_

"If I had been fighting him on my own, it would have been a stalemate again. You were a big help. But maybe we should head home now."

Rin rolled her eyes, but turned away so that Saber wouldn't see her blush. "You seem to have all your skills. Are you certain you don't remember anything about your life?"

"Nothing worth mentioning – just rescuing the odd damsel in distress." Saber wraped his arm around Rin's waist and leaped onto the roof.

When they landed, Rin asked, "Did you marry any of them?"

"No. I was a foolish young man who prioritized helping others over my own happiness."

"But it worked out for you – here you are after all."

Saber paused and glanced at Rin, who was still ensconced in his arms. "I'm not really certain how that happened. I made so many mistakes." Saber skipped mentioning the one that he regretted most - not taking up Alaya on its offer to become a Counter Guardian. It felt like in so many ways, he hadn't lived up to his potential.

"If helping people was so bad, why are you pushing me to do more of it?" Rin squirmed to face Saber, who released her and stepped over to the edge of the roof to look out at the skyline.

"It's not bad. It's just that... I guess I have regrets."

"Hmm." Rin stepped up behind Saber and wrapped her arms around him.

^T^Y^A^

Archer dangled from the broken fire escape as Arturia charged. She dropped down to the ground, narrowly avoiding another slash from Invisible Air.

As she fell she twisted and shot another snake arrow at Rider, but Arturia simply dodged that one, jumping to land near Archer.

Archer flung a spike with a dangling chain at Arturia, but she easily batted it away, and lunged for the the other servant as soon as she landed. Archer leaped backwards to generate more space, but Rider pressed her. As Archer dodged, Rider's invisible sword lashed out, forcing the other woman to deflect it awkwardly with the spike in her free hand.

^T^Y^A^

"Sempai, If you give me your command seals, I won't have to kill you." Sakura walked at a measured pace through the bookstore, her right hand dripping black blood onto the floor, "That would be best for everybody."

Shirou quickly scampered into the next aisle, making sure it wasn't a dead end. He really didn't want to fight Sakura. Facing her again under any conditions was.. difficult. But like this? There was too much left unresolved.

He could hear her coming closer, at her calm - almost sedate - serial killer pace. ' _If I fight her, she's going to get hurt. But they way she is acting, I can't just give her the command seal.'_ He glanced around, hoping for inspiration. The book shelves were too tall to leap over. But at least they were solid, providing good cover.

If he could climb over...

Sakura entered the next tow over. By reinforcing his ears, he could tell pretty exactly where she was. Shirou scrunched down and placed his shoulder to the shelving, and reinforced his legs. When he heard Sakura moving opposite him in the shelves, he surge upwards, tipping the shelves over.

As they fell, the top caught on the shelves of the neighboring row. Shirou scampered up this inclined plane, up and over the far bookshelves as well. He wasn't certain where Sakura was, but even if the shelves didn't hit her, she would have to crawl over the books to get out one of the ends.

He leaped down and sprinted for the door.

Once outside, he ran towards the sound of fighting, separating his cane into two fighting sticks. _'I bet most people wold run AWAY from the sound of fighting, instead of towards it.'_ Shirou smiled as he jumped over a dumpster to land behind Archer.

Before he could take a swing, the female servant leaped up to the roof and then over to the bookstore to scoop up Sakura.

"Can you follow them?" Shirou asked as Arturia ran up.

"Yes, but at that distance Archer will have a strong advantage. Let's check with Illyasviel. and see if her tracking spell worked."

^T^Y^A^

"Thank you for all your help, Illya. I know you don't have any reason to get involved with this 'Heavens Feel' ritual" Shirou gave a small bow. They were in the Emiya dining room, and Illya had set up her tracking spell off to one side.

"You're my only family, oni-chan." Illya smiled, "Of course I would help you. Now let check to see if the spell I placed on you was able to stick to Archer and that Sakura girl." She stepped into the pentagram she had drawn on the floor and lit the candle mounted on the tall candlestick that was at the center.

Light flared from Illya as she fed mana to the spell, and her clothes moved as if in a breeze. She stood like that for several minutes, her eyes closed, hands cupped in front of the candle.

"I'm sorry. The spell didn't stick."

Shirou shrugged, "That's ok." He was actually secretly relieved not to have to confront Sakura again. On the one hand, he wanted to stop Archer from killing more innocent people. On the other, it was Sakura: the first girl he had kissed. Had loved. They hadn't parted on the best terms, but his feelings for her were... complicated.

"Let's go to Taiga's and I'll make dinner."

"Why not here? I would like to have you stay with me?" Illya stepped close to Shirou, placing a hand on his chest.

Shirou waved dismissively at the kitchen, "You don't have anything here."

"Oh, I had Sella and Laysritt pick up some things while you were out." She led the way to the kitchen, where the two maids were just finishing putting away a dozen grocery bags of food. "I want you to feel at home here."

^T^Y^A^

"Medusa, I need to recharge my energy" Sakura commanded her servant, "At least two souls. Three if they are not young." As her servant bowed and departed, she slumped into a recliner. Maintaining her image was hard, especially because of sempai.. Shirou. He made her feel like a confused school girl again. "Shinji"

When the corpse had shuffled into the room, she commanded, "Bring the car around. We can't stay here."

The worms had eaten the tracer spell that had been placed on her, but she wasn't certain how much Sempai.. Shirou had gotten from it.

^T^Y^A^

"And I'm telling you that we should ally with that Saber bloke, at least if you're serious about going after your nemesis Artem the mage-pimp. I told you I have a weakness for pretty girls. It's not just a turn of phrase. And I trust Saber. I like him. He fights dirty, but he keeps it between us."

Bazett glared at her servant before shaking her head and smiling ruefully, "You know, you're crazy."

"It's part of my Gaelic charm."

Bazett inspected her Servant. She had idolized Cu Chulainn as a child, but she had outgrown that childish fascination. Or so she had thought. She had to admit the Celt managed to bring a smile to her face. Few thing did, nowadays. "Fine, next time you encounter him, try talking before attempting to kill him. And I'll see if I can figure out who his master is. In the mean time, we're going to Church. I have a contact who may be able to tell us more about where Artem is holed up.

^T^Y^A^

Shirou brought tea out from Illya's freshly refurbished kitchen. "It's been a while since I had good tea." He sat down with a sigh.

"To bad we don't have any cookies to go with the tea. Do you bake as well?" Illya asked as she sat down facing Shirou, next to Arturia.

"Some." Shirou admitted.

"Mm. You'll make somebody a good husband." Illya peered at the redhead over the rim of her cup.

"Enough of this. We need to focus on the problem at hand," Arturia interrupted, "Specifically, how to handle Archer and her master." She turned to face Shirou. "I understand that you are hesitant to fight Sakura, so we need a plan for me to engage Archer on terms that are favorable to me."

"Or Arturia could just attack the master." Illya interjected.

"That is no acceptable!"

"That is dishonorable!"

Shirou and Arturia replied almost in unison.

"I'm just offering up ideas."

Shirou paused, "I appreciate all the help you have offered – the use of your house, the advise. I.. am not used to being the one who is helped." He wanted to diffuse the situation with Illya. She was wrong, but she was family, and she was trying to be kind. And it felt very.. nice how she was willing to support him without any reservations. "Thank you for risking yourself to help me like this." He bowed formally to Illyasviel before turning back to Arturia, "The key to drawing out Archer is to find Sakura – she will use a command seal to summon Archer if she feels threatened."

"In that case, we should get Sakura out to someplace with lots of cover, preferably one story buildings. Like the docks."

Shirou yawned. "Lets plan to take tomorrow to explore the city for likely areas, so that we know the territory."

"Hmm." Arturia nodded, "We should turn in early to conserve our strength. Your bond with me is weak, so I am not getting a very strong flow of mana."

Illya brightened "I'll prepare a pair of rooms, I just had the maids wash all the bedding."

"That will not be necessary," Arturia interrupted calmly.

"This place used to be a hotel before dad bought it," Shirou explained, "there are plenty of rooms."

"It is not that, but to increase the transfer of mana, I should be sleeping in the same room with Shirou. It will also make it easier to defend him if anything breaks through your bounded field" She explained to Illya. She wasn't certain why she was feeling awkward about it – it made perfect sense, and in military camps she had slept among her men all the time. But something about how Illya was acting made it seem as if she was intruding.

"Ugh! Fine. Just don't do anything inappropriate With oni-chan," Illya stomped off, calling for her maids.

Usually, Illya liked the way she looked. When she had to have her homunculus half tuned up, she had opted to look like Arturia - a strong self confident women. Not at all like her mother, who had allowed herself to be manipulated into committing suicide for the benefit of others. But now, with the original standing here for comparison.. she felt redundant.

Meanwhile, Shirou smirked at Arturia, "She's acting like we're teenagers."

^T^Y^A^

flashback

 _There was the sound of gunfire., and people yelling, people running. He was inside a tent, so he couldn't tell exactly what was going on. Shirou turned as a blond woman in blue grabbed his arm, yelling something, and pointing into the back of the tent, towards the medical equipment. But he jerked his arm out of her grasp before running out into the camp, into the bright African sun, and the sound of distant semi-automatic rifle fire._

 _The view pinwheeled, and he was now running through the tall grass towards a pair of hyena headed men in camouflage uniforms with the sleeves torn off as they sprayed the camp with bullets. With a super human surge, he burst out of the cover of the grass, lashing out with a spear to take the head off of the first soldier. As the second turned in a panic, Shirou slapped the rifle away with his free hand and rammed his spear through the gunman's mid section_

end

Arturia jerked awake, and turned to see her master thrashing in the throws of the dream. She reached out and gently shook Shirou, just barely yanking her hand away as he sat up violently, grabbing for the offending appendage.

"You were having a nightmare."

"Oh, sorry," Shirou replied sheepishly, "did I wake you?" Their futons were a few feet apart, but still closer than he had slept to any woman in a while. It was both awkward and nice.

"I.. shared some of your dreams. I apologize," Arturia nodded her head.

"Huh. Well, nothing terribly secret in here, I guess." He tapped his head.

As Shirou lay back down to sleep, Arturia asked, "Why do the others not realize that you are a warrior. Illyasviel talks about about how you are healer, saving lives, but makes no mention of the lives you saved with your sword."

"I guess there ARE some secrets up there, just not from you," Shirou smiled. "In todays world, people wouldn't understand my need to keep people safe that way. They would see me as some sort of vigilante or terrorist or worse, so I only talk about the doctor part of my life."

Arturia shook her head in exasperation at people's small-mindedness, "You would have made a good king."

"Not as good as you. I lack patience."

"No, I.. "Arturia shook her head in denial before pausing, "wait – how did you know I was king?"

"I'm not the only one who's dreams are bleeding over, and even with my poor education in European history, I have heard of you. You are the archetype against which all others kings were measured."

"But.. I failed." She paused slightly, before adding, "That is my wish – that Merlin had found somebody stronger, somebody better suited to being king"

"Everybody fails sometimes. But what you accomplished was nothing short of astonishing. Sure, If somebody else had been king, they wouldn't have made your mistakes, but they would have made plenty of others."

Arturia rolled over, so that Shirou would not see her blush, "thank you."

^T^Y^A^

Flashback

 _There was the roar of a pickup truck pulling up, and yelling. He pushed open the tent stepping out to confront the two men. One was standing on the back of the Toyota truck, leaning his heavy machine gun against a welded-on railing while the other got out out of the cab and approached him._

" _Your medicine. Now! Bring out your antibiotics, gauze, bandage. In the back." the man in cheap camo jabbed the rifle at him._

 _The white haired man shook his head, "You bring your wounded here, and I will heal them."_

" _We will not! You use devil vaccines."_

" _Then you get no medicine. You know I offer healing for any who need." From the surrounding tents, people had stepped out to watch. It was a small camp, just a half dozen tents housing a mix of patients, nurses and guards._

 _The man on the back of the truck tilted his machine gun to point at the white haired man, but he wasn't there anymore. Instead, he was standing behind him, his spear jabbed into the soldier's thigh._

" _I am Loa. I heal those that need healing. But if you threaten me, I will kill you." He pulled the spear tip out of the man, letting him collapse to the back of the truck. White hair glared down at the soldier on the ground. "You understand?"_

" _Yes, master." He knelt down on the ground and touched his head to the dirt. "I will tell my commander."_

end

Rin woke up and glanced at Saber's sleeping profile, before gently running a hand over his chest, _'No wonder his memory is confused. He is a Heroic Spirit from the recent past. He probably just arrived in the Throne of Heroes.'_

^T^Y^A^

"Let's head up that way." Shirou and Arturia had started out in the warehouse area, but as the morning had progressed, they had walked in towards the center, and were now on the outskirts of the Fuyuki memorial mark.

Arturia paused, "this is where everything ended, last time."

Shirou turned at the angry tone to her voice. "Dad must have had a reason to not activate the Grail. He never talked about what happened here that night, but I knew him. It was his belief in helping people that made me channel my drive towards healing, instead of violence."

Arturia quirked an eyebrow, "You seem fairly comfortable fighting for what you believe in."

"That is - that is something that is broken in me. But Kiritsugu was always very gentle, and that made me realize that no matter what, I couldn't let that darkness take over, that I had to channel it in ways that would avoid killing, as much as I could."

"So instead you dedicated your life to going where no one else would, and healing?"

Shirou nodded, "sometimes that meant that I had to kill the assholes that were making it unsafe for my people, but that was only a last resort."

Arturia looked puzzled, "That.. was not the man I remember. That is strange."

"You know what's strange, talking with a woman my age about her knowing my dad back when I was a little kid."

Arturia shrugged, "Have you forgotten that I am a Heroic Spirit? That I am hundreds of years old?"

Shirou smiled at Arturia, "right now, you're a pretty girl that I am strolling about town with."

They walked on, and as they entered the more populated parts of town, they gradually switched from inspecting building for good vantage points and cover to simply window shopping. Finally, they stopped in front of a motorcycle gear shop. In the window was a black leather jacket with a lion stitched out on the back. Arturia acted nonchalant, but Shirou could see that her gaze was locked on it, with its mix of cute and tough.

"Do you want to go in?"

"No, we should go back to scouting."

"We can take a break – it's past time for lunch anyways. Here, you wait." Shirou darted into the store, and a few minutes later returned with a big bundle in his arms.

"For you, my knight." He sept an exaggerated bow.

"I.." Arturia turned away. "Lets go get lunch."

"How about there? It looks like it won't be too terrible" Shirou pointed to an upscale bistro.

"No. Let's go home." Arturia didn't want to talk, to spend time like this with Shirou. It was making her confused about what she was trying to accomplish out here. Shirou had a way of turning the world upside down. She turned and walked quickly, generating a little space between the two of them.

And besides, this way, there was the chance that Shirou would cook lunch.

^T^Y^A^

"I can try calling Sakura to set up a meeting" Shirou volunteered. They were back at Illya's. For some reason, Arturia had refused to talk to him all the way back. It had been very awkward, so Shirou was grateful for Illya's cheerful energy. The maids had prepared the food, and it wasn't bad, even by his standards.

"Are you nuts?" Illya sputtered. "She just tried to kill you. Do you want to give her another shot at it?"

Arturia nodded, adding "Do you think she would even consider it, after last night?"

As they were discussing their options for how to lure Archer into an ambush, Shirou's phone went off. "Hello?"

"Shirou? It's Taiga," Came the tinny voice from the other end, "I just got a call from Sakura. She wants to get together with you." Despite the poor connection, she sounded decidedly smug. "She want to do it at the memorial park."

"Excuse me?" Shirou asked incredulously.

"She want to meet up with you at that creepy park they built as a memorial to the Fuyuki fire. Tomorrow after work. Geez, why do you have to assume that there is a sexual overtone to everything I say?"

"Maybe because that's the way you said it?"

Taiga cackled and hung up.

Illya reached across the table to grab Shirou's arm urgently, "Shirou, it's obviously a trap."

"The park is not a bad option." Arturia added thoughtfully, but then she scowled, "My concern is that you won't take Sakura seriously as an opponent. I am worried you won't fight back when she attacks you. You need to give me time to find and kill Archer. That is the only way this will work."

Shirou nodded glumly. "I will do my best."

"How can you be so blasé about having Shirou go out there?" Illya demanded, "And how can you be certain she will show up? She may just send Archer."

Shirou shook his head. "Oh, she'll show up. She will want to talk." He got up to escape to the serenity of the kitchen.

Arturia shrugged and walked after her master, "Shirou." She stopped at his shoulder and paused to consider her words, before continuing cautiously into unexplored territory, "I have also had to fight someone I loved. No matter what she says or does, don't give up on yourself. You just need to keep her attention for a little while." She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Shirou smiled, "Thank you." And then he completely shocked the Servant by enveloping her in a quick hug before turning back to cleaning up the kitchen.

^T^Y^A^

"Hello Sempai. I am surprised you came by yourself. You always were too trusting." Sakura stepped out from the shadow of the monument as Shirou approached it from up the path. The park was still as desolate as he remembered it. The grass never grew, and the trees were short and gnarled. The groundskeepers tried to disguise the sorry state by adding decorative statuary and large banners proclaiming various local events and celebrations.. This month it was it was the farmers market and the upcoming annual sashimi contest.

"So where is Archer, then?" Shirou stood casually, hands resting on the top of his cane.

Sakura examined the other Master for a moment before replying, "I need your command seals. Give them to me and I won't have to hurt you."

"I could say the same to you." Shirou sighed, "You know I can't let you have them, not with the way you have been attacking people."

Sakura frowned, "I knew you were going to say that." She made a scooping motion with her left hand, holding the fingers claw like.

Immediately, black tentacles rose up out of the dust to lash out at Shirou, who had to throw himself sideways to avoid getting eviscerated.

^T^Y^A^

Archer was perched on a shop roof that overlooked the park when she heard the roar of an engine. She pivoted towards the direction of the noise, scanning the street with a pair of arrows knocked on her bow when Rider Arturia came flying off of the third story roof of the neighboring tenement building. A blast of pressure formed under her wheels, serving to support her motorcycle and to knock Archer down.

Archer leaped back, trying to maintain distance, but Arturia roared in. As Archer leaped to the neighboring roof for cover, Rider followed, her motorcycle roaring from rooftop to rooftop.

Archer glanced over her shoulder, hoping to have enough space to turn and shoot, but Rider was close on her heels, a sword in her right hand. As Archer leaped for the top of skyscraper, she pivoted in mid air and released a pair of arrows, but they were buffeted aside by the winds enveloping Arturia as she raced up the side of the building.

^T^Y^A^

Shirou rolled behind a tree as a black tentacle lashed the spot he had been a moment before. He deflected another tentacle that had swept through the tree with is cane before jumping clear.

"Shirou, you should never attack a magus on ground that they have had a chance to prepare ahead of time," Sakura lectured, standing poised as she directed her tentacles. If you looked closely, you could just barely see their roots extending from her legs into the ground. "Though I am surprised by how long you have been able to stay free of them. That is very impressive for a non magus. But you always were very athletic." She licked her lips as if recalling something.

While she was momentarily distracted, Shirou leaped forward, jabbing with his cane as if it was a spear. As Sakura stumbled back, avoiding most of the blow, the tentacles disappeared.

But when he landed, Shirou hesitated slightly, as if not certain what he wanted to do next.

Sakura took advantage of the slight pause to slash her palm with her fingernails and fling the resulting black, boiling blood at Shirou. He ducked, but several drops caught him across the chest and burned their way in.

^T^Y^A^

Archer was trapped on the skyscraper roof as Rider drove around her, the motorcycle kicking up tornado force winds behind it. The winds deflected Archers arrows, so she had to switch to her fall back weapon, the spiked chain.

She threw one spike, trying to tangle the motorcycles wheels, but the attack couldn't reach. She crouched, waiting for Rider to falter or stop.

Arturia couldn't get her circle small enough to reach Archer with her sword, and as soon as she stopped, the other servant would leap for freedom, so she ramped up her speed, relying on the winds to batter Archer, to get her off of her footing so that she could turn in and attack her directly.

^T^Y^A^

Shirou staggered behind the statue of some guy on a horse, clutching his arm where Sakura's blood had burnt it. He reinforced the injury, speeding the healing process so that he could use the arm. He was just about to leap out from cover when the statue behind him exploded, showering him with debris,

His eyes swam from the dust and pain as he tried to free himself from the rubble.

"It's all over, Sempai," Sakura walked out of the dust cloud, a knife in her hand. She stared down at the prone redhead. "If you had just stayed here in Fuyuki instead of racing off all over the world to have your adventures, we wouldn't be like this."

"I needed to help people," Shirou rasped.

"Oh, so you had to go gallivanting off to rescue perfect strangers." Sakura paused, "well, what about rescuing me? Who was going to save me once you were gone?" She hefted her knife, "I'm going to cut the command seals out of your body now." She was just reaching for Shirou when she gasped "Oh" and dropped to her knees.

As she fell forwards onto the ground, she slipped off of the dagger Illya had plunged into her back.

The blond woman smiled sadly "I'm sorry Shirou, but I am involved."


	5. Chapter 5

Since many of the servants are coming in as different classes, here is a cheat sheet to help you keep track:

Arturia = Servant Rider

Medusa = Servant Archer

Cu Chulainn = Servant Berserker

? (take a wild guess) = Servant Saber

CHAPTER

Illya stood over Sakura's bleeding body as Shirou wriggled free from the rubble, "what are you doing?"

He struggled to get over to Sakura. Maybe he could save her.

Illya placed a hand over Sakura's command seals, and a light flared from her body as hundreds of mage circuits lit up her skin. The command seals rippled and merged onto her hand. The light died, and Illya staggered back, holding up her hand, a command seal across her palm.

As Shirou knelt over Sakura, using his magecraft to stem the bleeding, Illya pronounced "Servant Archer I command you – return to the Throne of Heroes."

Shirou sent his magic into the wound, trying to seal the deep hole in her torso. But Sakura's body didn't heal – it was like there was something in her that was actively fighting him, corroding and unraveling his spell. Shirou ripped off his shirt and tried to use that as a pad to apply pressure, but the wound was too deep, and it kept bleeding. He glanced around desperately for anything that could help. But even with a full surgery, he wouldn't be able to staunch the bleeding by mundane means - he needed his magic to heal this. With magic, this would be an easy wound to fix. But any magic he applied was immediately unraveled.

"Shirou."

Some time had passed, and the dust had settled. Arturia gently took his arm. "She's gone."

He nodded mutely before turning towards Illya, who was standing off to one side, "Talk."

"Can we do this somewhere else? I have set up a boundary field to keep people out, but even that will draw attention if I keep it going too long."

"I want to know what's going on before we go anywhere."

Arturia nodded her agreement. "I was close to defeating Archer. There was no need to kill her Master."

"But that is exactly what I do not want. I don't want any of the Servants to die in this war. Oni-chan, you said that I am not involved in the Holy Grail ritual. That is not true. While I am not a Master, I am the Grail, or at least my body was designed as the physical anchor for its manifestation. When a Servant dies, it's power pours into the grail, bringing it closer to manifestation.

"And when it does manifest, what happens to Illyasviel?" Shirou asked.

"I will die."

The three of them stood silently like that for some time before Shirou ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I'm going to go to Taiga's. We'll talk later."

^T^Y^A^

Saber sat up as the globe on the desk in the corner of Rin's bedroom made a sound like a raspy siren. "Rin, your alarm is going off."

The magus muttered something and rolled over. Saber sighed and stood up. With a swift motion, he pulled the covers off of Rin, who sat up with a squawk. "What was that for?"

"Your alarm," Saber began, but Rin had already bounced out of bed and slammed her palm onto the globe, muttering something as she focused on her work. After a moment she froze, and blushed beet read down to her toes. "I'm naked." She quickly peered over her shoulder to see if Saber had noticed.

Saber quirked a eyebrow before adding, "It's more comfortable having sex that way." He continued to watch Rin appreciatively.

"I know that. That was fine. More than fine" she stuttered, "But I am up now! I have an image to maintain."

When Saber just nodded, she added, "Can you turn around for a moment, so I can get dressed?"

Saber continued to watch Rin. Rin hunched in on herself. Finally, with an exasperated sigh, he turned to face away.

"Oh, and can you throw me that ball gown while you're at it? The green one this time."

After some quick rustling, Rin again called out, "remember that trace I attached to the draining field some idiot set up around Fuyuki? Well, I found the source."

"No, you never mentioned it."

"Really I could have sworn I explained that there have been an unusual number of people passing out all over the city. The police are attributing it to gas leaks, but it is consistent with a subtle draining field. Or maybe I did the explanation all in my head."

"I'm voting on it being all in your head."

Rin smacked Saber in the shoulder. "Anyway, the spell was really good. The only reason I was able to get a read on it is because I am the Second Owner, and I already had all the sensing spells set up around the city." Rin grimaced, "Whoever is behind the draining spell is set up in Ryuudou shrine. What do you want to bet that there is another Master up there. That place is a fortress, magically speaking, and they have been stripping the city of excess mana."

"In plain Japanese, for those of us that are not 'Average Ones'."

"It means we're going to need back up."

^T^Y^A^

Shirou knocked on Taiga's door. As they waited for her to open the door, he glanced over at Arturia, "It would be more convenient if you cold assume spirit form."

Arturia nodded agreement, but felt no need to reply to something so self-evident.

"Why hello there, stranger!" Taiga opened the door and motioned for Shirou to come in, "so you got tired of spending all your time with your new girlfriend and her twin cousin? You came to visit poor, lonely Taiga?"

Shirou glanced at Arturia quickly "She's not.." Shirou began, but Arturia put her hand on his to forestall him. He wasn't certain what she was planning, but he figured he should play along. So instead, as he came in, Shirou replied, "What, is your husband not calling you often enough?"

"He only calls once a day! It's so lonely without him!" Taiga threw up her hands in exasperation, "You'll learn about that, now that you have a girlfriend!" and then darted into the kitchen to rescue the casserole from impending doom.

As soon as Taiga was out of hearing, Arturia quickly explained, "Let her assume I'm your girlfriend. As your servant, I need to be sleeping in the same room to keep you safe, and this way, there won't be any awkward questions."

Shirou rolled his eyes, "You don't know Fujimura very well. With her, there are ALWAYS awkward questions. I do think it's a good plan, but are you sure you're ok with it?"

"I am your Servant, it is my duty to stay close so that I can guard you."

Shirou nodded, and as Taiga walked back into the room, a slightly burnt tuna casserole in her hands, Shirou snaked an arm around Arturia's waist and pulled her close.

Taiga smiled as Arturia gave a very undignified 'eep', "For a minute there I thought you had the wrong cousin. She was a lot more energetic last time you were here."

After dinner, Shirou and Arturia went up on to the roof to practice. Or, more precisely, Shirou badgered Arturia into acquiescing to train with him.

"I am a Heroic Spirit. I do not need to train."

"But I am a mere mortal." Shirou countered, "and it would do me good, especially with a Heroic Spirit."

"Don't even think about challenging a Servant one on one. You may be a decent warrior for your day and age, but Heroic Spirits come from a time when war was an everyday pastime. And they have the added boost of their legend fueling them.

"I know, I know." Shirou made placating gestures with his hands, but then he paused, "Honestly? I need to burn off some energy. I.. am not certain what to do, what to feel, about Illya."

Arturia nodded, and took a fighting stance.

^T^Y^A^

As Shirou deflected yet another of Arturia's attacks, she took a step back and considered. "You are exceptionally fast, for a mortal."

"Thanks. But Heroic Spirits really aren't that much faster than a well trained warrior, and I can cheat by using personal reinforcement."

Arturia smiled thinly, "That's not cheating. A good warrior fights with whatever they have." And she came at Shirou again, hoping to catch him while he was distracted.

Shirou smiled back. It was good to spar like this. It was too long since he had somebody to work out with at full power. And she was really very, very good. If she had been summoned as a Saber class instead of Rider, she would be completely unstoppable. As it was, he was able to deflect most of her attacks, but he hadn't been able to land anything more than a minor scratch on her.

After an hour, Shirou said, "let's try some bare open hand."

"I don't have much practice with that. In my time, all wars were fought fought sword or spear."

Shirou smiled, "well, good. I can teach you something." Despite her protestations, Arturia was a more than adequate open hand fighter, though this time Shirou was the superior. His knowledge of the human body let him know what targets were the most vulnerable.

The last bit of training time was mostly Shirou showing Arturia the best way to throw somebody, no matter how much larger they were. Which is how Shirou ended up laying down, with a very attractive woman pinning him to the roof as she locked his arm behind his head.

"Ah.. I think.." Shirou stammered as Arturia pivoted to face him, her torso grinding into his.

"Yes?" She asked, and then almost recoiled when she realized that their faces were inches apart.

"Let's call it a day." Shirou stammered, _'what am I, a teenager?'_

^T^Y^A^

"So how did you meet Fujimura?" Arturia had turned her back so that Shirou could get changed for bed.

"I've always known her. Or that I can remember. My parents died in the Fuyuki fire, so after Kiritsugu adopted me, she was my babysitter and older sister surrogate."

"Mm. I have no memory of my real parents either. Merlin claims... Merlin claimed many things, but he was a notorious liar. But my adoptive father was the best parent you could have hoped for." Arturia turned around to see Shirou watching her. "What?"

"Nothing." He shook his head and climbed under the covers. They had two futons pushed together. The guest room was small, with just barely enough room to walk around them.

"Are you still committed to the Holy Grail war?" Arturia asked as they they settled in for the night.

Shirou glanced at Arturia in surprise, "Why wouldn't I be? I told you my goal is to keep any civilians safe. That means ending this war as quickly as possible."

Arturia nodded, "I did not mean to imply otherwise." She paused, considering her words, "I know confronting Sakura was hard for you. I just want to make sure.." Arturia gave an exasperated sigh, "I have never been very good at connecting with the men that I led."

Shirou gave a small laugh, "Your doing fine. And besides, technically, I'm the leader here."

"That too is very strange. I do not like accepting orders."

"Have I given you any order?"

"No, you've always been very respectful."

It was a very strange night. Arturia could not remember the last time she had such easy camaraderie. Here she wasn't a king, or a knight. She was just Arturia. And Shirou was an attractive man. She kept remembering what his body had felt like as they did the open hand sparing.

Pretending for Taiga was going to be both easier and more complicated than she had expected.

^T^Y^A^

Shirou was cleaning up from breakfast, with Arturia's awkward help - she had insisted on giving him a hand, but she appeared decidedly uncomfortable - when there was a knock at the door.

Since Taiga had already headed out to run errands, Shirou cautiously opened the door.

"Ah, good you're here! We need to plan!" The Tohsaka pushed her small body through the door. Or she tried to, except that Shirou refused to open it more than a crack. "Can you open that so I can come in? We have a lot of work to do!"

Shirou looked over her shoulder at Saber with a questioning look, "We would like to form an alliance with you, to deal with the Servant that is residing up in Ryuudou temple."

"Ryuudou?" Shirou opened the door – if Issei was in danger, he best learn all he could right away.

"What do you know about the Servant?" Shirou showed the pair in, and brought some leftovers out for them to snack on.

Rin took a comfortable lecturing pose. "We don't know who they are, but they have been slowly draining mana from a wide swath of Fuyuki, so it is most likely a Caster. The drain is not enough to adversely affect most people – most won't even notice – but some that are more sensitive, those with some small magical ability, are passing out from the drain. Whoever it is, they are planning something big."

^T^Y^A^

"Why are you never satisfied, woman?" Artem demanded, "I am feeding you far more mana than you should require. I have four whores supplying you, and I am not giving you any more than that – it is cutting into my profits."

"My magic is far more powerful than anything in this era, so it should come as no surprise that it requires more mana than you are used to," Servant Caster replied, careful not to look up. The trick was to cajole him without being too challenging, otherwise he would refuse to budge. "Bleeding mana from the life of those girls is not very efficient. If you want me to raise the dead throughout the city, you will have to provide me with your own mana." But dealing with men who feared and hated her was nothing new. She knew how to handle them.

"That's not going to happen," Artem scoffed, "Drain the whores faster – they only need to last a few more days. I can't sell them now anyways. I want that spell ready to cast today!"

"Yes, Master."

"The amount of mana from those four woman should be more than enough. I don't understand why you want more. Women are all like that." Artem muttered as he walked off, shaking his head.

^T^Y^A^

"Who's there? Show yourself" Saber yelled out as he stepped in front of Rin and Shirou. Arturia took a flanking position, her (invisible) sword also drawn. The two servants and two masters were just about to start the climb up to Ryuudou.

"Oy, oy. None of that" Cu Chulainn faded into view under a tree. "I was just trying to decide how to best approach the fortress up there when you lot came by." He inspected the gathered forces, "You seem ready for a full on assault. I think it makes sense for me to join in with that." He scratched at his arms as he talked. "Them command seals really itch."

Arturia looked skeptical, "Why would you do that? We have our reasons for wanting to take out the servant up there promptly, but you never have struck me as a team player."

"I'm not, generally." Berserker sucked on his lip for a moment before turning back to the others, "What do you know about the Master that is holed up there?" At the silence, he continued, "Well, Bazett is rather familiar with him – she was tracing his operations for years now. The bloke's name is Artem, and he deals in sex slaves. He steals women off of the streets, and enchants them to be more beautiful. And more pliant. Bazett got involved when her sister was abducted."

"Did she ever rescue her sister? Shirou asked intently.

"No. So you can see why she would be willing to put aside petty rivalries to take this guy down."

"Agreed." Saber stuck his hand out.

Cu Chulainn quirked an eyebrow, "It's a little early for that. Lets see how we do at the top of the hill first."

^T^Y^A^

The party walked cautiously up the stairs, with Rin and Saber leading the way – Rin was questing about for magical traps, and Saber wasn't about to leave her side (Besides, he wanted to be the first one up – he wanted a piece of this Artem guy).

The other three brought up the rear, with Shirou and Arturia scanning the underbrush for any motion, in case there was a physical ambush. They talked a little, but kept their attention focused outwards, like seasoned warriors, and Berserker chatted at them, walking casually off to one side.

All of a sudden, Berserker dropped to one knee, clutching his head.

"Is everything all right?" Arturia turned towards her companion.

"Just great." Berserker ground out, as he surged to his feet, a sword in his hand. Without any warning he rammed it into Arturia's midsection. As he swung his second sword around to finish her off, Shirou lunged forward, blocking it with his cane.

He didn't bother with any questions, instead activating his reinforcements and lunging in for an inhumanly fast strike at Berserker's head.

"Sorry about that, you know how command seals are." Berserker blocked the attack and leaped away as Saber joined the attack.

As Saber drew close, Berserker's face deformed, radiating a palpable rage, forcing Saber onto the defensive. Rin raced up the stairs, hoping to get a clear shot at Berserker.

Seeing this, Shirou knelt down next to Arturia, who had slumped down to the ground, "You seem to be spending a lot of time healing injured women."

"Except I'm not going to let you die," he muttered as he tried to heal the wound, but the danger kept him from concentrating. The sound of steel on steel had him glancing up for an impending attack. Instead he slowed the bleeding and turned to face Berserker, who was dancing around Saber as he avoided Rin's Gander.

Shirou scowled, "trace on" His body flooded with reinforcement and used his unique projection ability to change his walking stick into a spear like Saber's.

Shirou saw his opening – as Berserker avoided Saber's tentative strike, he had to turn his back to the stairs. Shirou lunged forward, joining the fray. Now, Berserker was hard pressed to keep up with two melee combatants and Rin ready to snipe him if he ever stepped too far back.

He pivoted and leaped into the forest, and Saber immediately followed.

"Saber, don't go in there!" Rin wailed. She didn't like the idea of Saber risking his life out of her sight. She ran after her Servant.

Shirou just turned and scooped up Arturia. He didn't like the idea of moving her, but he had to get her to safety so he could work on her wounds. The patch job he had done was liable to give out at any minute. It probably was leaking even now. The thought of losing Arturia scared him more than anything had in a very long time.

He ran down the stairs, trying to keep Arturia's body steady. Where to go? He couldn't show up at Taiga's covered in blood, with Arturia draped in his arms. That left one option. He pushed his reinforced body as hard as he could.

^T^Y^A^

Illyasviel watched as Shirou operated on Arturia, reinforcing her blood to clot where needed, and strengthening the tissue that was cut so that it wouldn't die. Finally, he wrapped a bandage over the gash, holding it together, so that her body could finish heal on its own.

"Will she survive?" Illya asked. Shirou had staggered over to the sink to wash up. It had been a long time since he had pushed himself that hard.

"I think so. I hope so. I sealed the wound, but she lost a lot of blood. And it was deep. I don't think there was any infection, but without antibiotics, there is a limit to what I can do." He glanced over at Illya hovering attentively. He still didn't know if she was somebody who he could call a friend, or if he really trusted her, but he was too tired and too desperate to worry about it now.

"Tell me what you need – I will go charm it from the local pharmacist," Illya volunteered.

Shirou nodded muzzily. If his head had been clearer, he would have proposed that himself. After giving Illya instructions, he went back to Arturia's room and lay down on the floor net to her

' _Please don't die'._ He took her hand hoping the physical contact would allow for a better transfer of Mana. Not that he had much left, but he willed anything that was left to flow to Arturia. As their hands touched, a shock went through him as if some reservoir of magical energy that he didn't know he had poured out into Arturia, making her gasp violently. Shirou sat up, alarmed but then her breathing relaxed and deepened, sounding less pained.

He sat there several minutes, looking at the face of his Servant. He wasn't certain what had just happened, but sitting there, watching Arturia sleep, one conclusion was fairly inescapable. _'I'm in love with her.'_

^T^Y^A^

When Shirou next opened his eyes, He was laying in bed and Arturia was staring down at him, her hand resting gently on his chest. "Hi."

She jerked back, "Oh, good, your awake!" she replied flustered "You were out for an entire day. Arturia on the other hand, recovered really quick. She's already having dinner!"

Right. This was Illya.

"Ok, give me a minute" Shirou sat up.

"Are you certain your ok? You slept so deeply nobody could wake you up." For some reason she looked away and blushed as she said that.

 _'It's like the whole Sakura incident never happened,'_ Shirou sighed. Why did the women in his life have to be so confusing?

"I'm fine. And we need to deal with Caster sooner rather than later. Did Arturia tell you what was going on?" He wasn't willing to forgive her, but.. there were extenuating circumstances. He would give her an opportunity to.. help? Atone? He wasn't certain what he was looking for from Illya. He just knew that he didn't want to be angry with her. She was so cheerful and eager to please, that it was like being angry with a puppy.

"Some. And you're right, with the amount of Mana that they have drained, I am surprised that Caster isn't on the offensive."

"Maybe they are, and we just don't know it yet." Shirou pushed off and staggered towards the kitchen. He was met at the table by Arturia, who got up to greet him as soon as he entered.

She bowed, ending kneeling on one knee. "I apologize for failing in my duty."

"What duty?" Shirou was taken aback. He was just glad to see Arturia looking well (if a little haggard).

"As your servant, it is my duty to protect you. But I was taken out of combat right at the start, leaving you I danger."

"Arturia, no matter what the official titles are, we are partners. And if you are guilty of failing to protect me, I am even more guilty of not protecting you. After all, you were the one that was injured." Shirou bowed deeply.

Illya looked between the two guardians as they maintained their apologetic postures and sighed, "My question is how did Arturia heal so quickly. How did you manage that, oni-san?"

"After I finished with my usual healing spells, I felt something inside me activate and pour healing magics into her. I think that was why I ended up so drained."

"May I?" Illyasviel held up her hand, a diagnostic spell at the ready. She checked over Shirou once, and then again, "I missed it on the first try, because it has so integrated itself into your very essence, but you have a Noble Phantasm merged inside you."

"It is Avalon," Arturia pronounced. When the others looked at her, she added, "I sense a.. a kinship with Shirou. It must be the scabbard of Excalibur." She tried to appear nonchalant (and not blush) but from Illya's quirked eyebrow, it was clear that at least she wasn't buying that explanation.

Illya glanced at Shirou. He was watching Arturia, and nodding along as if the balderdash that she had spouted made sense. But it was ok – as a Servant, Arturia would only be here for another week at most. Illya could wait.

Shirou looked around the dining room – there was some food dishes out, but they were all already empty, "This quantity of magic burns a lot calories. Let me go make a second course." He turned for the kitchen, so be intercepted by one of Illya's maids, "I am certain we can provide an adequate meal," she curtsied as she blocked his way.

"I expect that is true, but I want to make Arturia something special, to help her recover." He squeezed by Laysvette. It was an hour before he had dinner ready. In the meantime Illya flipped through the TV channels, with Arturia watching over her shoulder. Or at least she stared at the TV, but her concentration was was turned inward.

^T^Y^A^

Arturia turned to Shirou, "Earlier, we talked about what my wish was." They trio had just finished the meal that Shirou had cooked for Arturia. It had been exceptional, even by Shirou's standards, and Illya did not begrudge the loan of her kitchen.

"Yeah," Shirou nodded, recalling the conversation.

"I think.. " She glanced at Illya, the personification of the grail, and then her gaze lingered on Shirou, The personification of.. she wasn't certain who he was, but he was more than she had first thought. Or maybe he just seemed that way, to her. "I think my wish is no longer what it was. My wish is now to not activate the grail." At Shirou's surprised look, she quickly continued, "I never much liked Kiritsugu, But I now know that he was a good man," a quick glance at Shirou, "and that he valued saving people over everything else. It was his one true wish. If he abandoned that wish and destroyed the grail, it was because it was defective and would do more harm than good. And while I may have been a poor king," Shirou snorted, "I do not wish for somebody worse to take my place."

A smile of glee spread across Illya's face, "Thank you, thank you so much!" She almost leaped across the table and enveloped the other woman in a hug, tears streaming down her face. "I can't thank you enough."

Shirou watched, happy that Arturia appeared more content and at peace than he had seen her before. And seeing Illya look so overwhelmed with joy... She wasn't a bad person. She was just stuck in a really difficult situation, and he was happy that he might have the chance to save her.


	6. Chapter 6

Since many of the servants are coming in as different classes, here is a cheat sheet to help you keep track:

Arturia = Servant Rider  
Medusa = Servant Archer  
Cu Chulainn = Servant Berserker  
EMIYA = Servant Saber  
Medea = Caster

CHAPTER

It was that same evening, and Shirou, Arturia and Illya were back at the base of the stairs leading up to Ryuudou shrine. "Do we need to do this tonight? Arturia isn't fully healed yet." Illya asked cautiously.

"I will be fine," countered the Servant adamantly.

"We need to stop Caster now – there is no telling what she will do with the huge quantity of mana she has acquired"

"And what her master does to women is disgusting. We have to put a stop to it," added Arturia.

Illya sighed and glanced at Shirou. "Well, in that case, lets do it."

This time, the trio made it to the top without incident. "I wish we had Rin and Saber with us," Illya said nervously.

"Rin never told me where she is operating from." Shirou shrugged, "Besides, she's under no obligation to help us."

"She seems like a decent sort, if a bit of a flake" Illya commented.

Shirou started to smile at the comment when for some reason an image of Sakura popped into his head, and the smile slid off. Just because he intellectually understood what Illya had done didn't mean that he was totally ok with it. "Stay on your guard. We still don't know anything about Caster." Shirou sniffed – there was a whiff of some exotic magic, like rancid perfume.

As they walked into the temple compound, everything looked normal - Shirou hadn't been here in some time, but he was familiar enough with the layout from visiting Issei back when they were in high school. There were a couple of priests standing off at the other end of the courtyard, doing some repairs by the fence. But he kept his attention diffused over the entire area just in case, so that he would catch any hint of approaching motion or potential attack.

"They're not moving."

Shirou glanced back at the workers – Arturia was right: the pair were frozen in place. Before anybody could say anything further, the sky darkened ominously and a cloaked figure surrounded by a halo of light lifted into the sky.

"You think your something special, glowing like that?" Golden traces spidered across Illya's skin as she glared at the servant. "Shirou, go find Artem. Arturia and I will hold Caster here."

The wannabe hero took off for the main building, but Caster immediately sent a bolt of purple light towards him. Illya 's golden tracery forked into the air, enveloping the blasts of Caster's energy, deflecting them. Meanwhile, Arturia raced towards the dormitory behind Caster, before using it as a springboard to throw herself back at Caster.

Shirou was about to go into the main temple when he caught the rancid scent coming from the kitchens – a ramshackle older building that had been given over to preparing food, both for the priests and for delivery to the poor who were in need. He ran through the delivery doors. In a modern building, this would be a truck loading bay, but here it was just pair of extra-wide doors with a ramp leading up to them. Inside several more priests were frozen in different aspects of food preparation, though in the store room where Shirou found himself that consisted mostly of gathering the ingredients.

Shirou stalked down the stockroom aisles, sniffing: the magical taint was definitely coming from somewhere nearby. He gave the frozen priests a good margin, just in case.

' _That's odd – that one looks familiar.'_ Shirou just barely threw himself out of the way before a blazingly fast fist punched through were his head had been a moment before.

Shirou found himself facing his former English teacher, "Kuzuki-sensai. I heard you were dead!"

The former yakuza turned teacher lashed out with a pair of furious blows, following them with a knee to Shirou's chest. Shirou managed to dodge the punches, reinforcing himself to match his attackers speed, and the knee he blocked enough so that it just sent him into a pile of bags of flour.

Souichirou Kuzuki waited as Shirou extricated himself from the spilled flour. " I was... I am dead. But now I am Servant Assassin. At your service."

Shirou stood on the unsteady footing of his sanctuary as he considered the best way to deal with his opponent. Whoever approached the other would have to cross the unstable footing of flour and would be at the disadvantage.

Shirou leaped down, landing on a bag of flour that had slid to the floor. At the same time, he used reinforcement to weaken the bag, so that as he landed, it shattered like glass, sending a cloud of flour up in front of the redhead.

Shirou launched into an all out attack, lashing out with his reinforced speed. As a doctor, he knew where the nerves lay in the human body, so he aimed for those points – the hollow of the shoulder, the spleen, the line between the muscles in the forearm, the neck, the tip of the jaw.

Unfortunately, his opponent was trained as an assassin, and kept moving just enough so that Shirou missed the nerves as he launched his own attacks. The self-proclaimed Servant used a harder style, using power instead of knowledge of anatomy.

Both martial artists were magically enhanced, moving faster then humanly possible. Shirou ducked Kuzuki-sensai's punch, and Assassin hit a support beam so hard that splinters of wood went spraying into Shirou's face.

As Shirou back peddled, there was a resounding crash from outside, followed by the roar of a motorcycle. The entire building shook, _'I hope they are ok out there.'_ Arturia was fast and tough, but Illya was only (mostly) human. And despite everything, he didn't want to see her get hurt.

Assassin took the moment of Shirou's distraction to fake at his head and then catch him a crushing blow to the ribs.

Shirou rolled with the punch, staggering to his feet. It felt like a rib was cracked. and he started to favor his left side. As they circled one another, Kuzuki's eyes flickered to that side and his lips pressed into a thin, hard smile.

He whipped out a right uppercut at Shirou's injured side. As the red head instinctively flinched to protect it, he changed direction, swinging a hook at his head with his left hand.

But Shirou had reinforced his cracked rib, so that the pain was not actually slowing him down. So when Assassin took the opening to swing at his head, he was ready, hitting the inside of the the attacking upper arm, above the meat of the muscle before back-fisting Kuzuki with his right hand into the jaw.

Souichirou blocked the back-fist with his left hand. Or he tried: it didn't move. As Kuzuki looked in surprise at his treacherous arm, Shirou's back-fist hit the point of his chin, shaking his brain around. Before he could recover, Shirou's left hand wrapped around the back of Assassins neck, digging into the nerve clusters in the side. As Assassins legs buckled, Shirou whipped his body around, pivoting his entire body to drive the point of his right elbow into the front of Kuzuki's throat.

He dropped the dying Assassin onto the ground and turned to go further into the building.

^T^Y^A^

Outside, Illya was sending out her bird familiars, trailing strands of blue. Each circled Caster, tangling her in the threads and dragging her ever lower. Illya didn't have the diversity of magic that Caster did, but in terms of raw power, they were a close match: Illya was an 800 pound gorilla in a girls body. Caster grimaced as she tried to fight off the little blond monster, but Illya's strands kept pulling her down. As Caster drooped down towards the roof of the dormitory, Arturia gunned the motorcycle that she had summoned, racing across the roof and then up into the air, slashing. Caster barely managed to raise a shield to deflect the blow. She pulled loose from some of the magic threads, but Illya sent out more familiars to circle her. Despite looking like doves, the familiars acted more like some arcane spiders.

Arturia landed and spun the motorcycle, throwing clay roofing tiles across the courtyard before racing back toward Caster. This time she leaped off the bike, letting it slam into caster before following up with a slash from Excalibur. Caster was now so low down that Arturia was able to keep up up the pressure, attacking Caster none stop from the roof, shattering shield spell after shield spell. She was so close now that Illya couldn't get any more spells in, but instead concentrated on tightening the strands that were already around Caster. Despite her small frame, Caster was pulling hard, using her magic to help corrode the strands, and it took all of Illya's concentration to keep them tight.

All of a sudden, Illya felt a stab of energy as a servant died. The momentary distraction was enough to let Caster get her other hand free. Arturia was pressing in hard – she was so close that she didn't see Caster stab low at her side with a crooked dagger. It was a weak blow, and the tip barely penetrated, but it was enough, as a ripple went through Arturia, and the command seals were ripped off of Shirou's arm, fading in on Caster.

Caster cackled gleefully

"You killed my poor Souichirou. He was just an approximation of Servant Assassin, made from local folklore, but now I have a true servant!"

But before she could command Arturia to finish off Illya, she was yanked sideways as if through a magic portal.

^T^Y^A^

"Servant! Defend me!" Artem yelled, using a command seal to summon Caster to his side. He was in the unused basement of the kitchen building. Or at least it had been unused before he turned it into his laboratory.

Standing in front of him was Shirou, Artem's shattered alchemical apparatus around him. Shirou had just felt a sharp pain in his arm, but he didn't have time to explore what had happened, not when confronted by an opponent.

As Caster appeared at Artem's side, Shirou took a defensive stance.

"Shield me!" shrilled Artem, in a panic. He was never one for physical combat, and the young man in front of him radiated a fury that almost equaled Berserker's.

Caster absent mindedely raised her hand towards Artem, encircling him in a sphere of purple.

"Now kill him. And don't let him break any more of my equipment. It's expensive!" He commanded, taking a deep breath "I won't have time to sell any more of more of my designer girls until after this war is done. And don't damaged the laboratory - this thug has already trashed far more than I can afford!" Artem paused to take a deep breath. "Caster.." he croaked, raising his hand to his chest. He tried to say something, but there was too little air. He tried to cast spell, but it was too late. He collapsed, slumping on the inside of the (apparently air tight) purple sphere.

"You killed him?" Shirou asked puzzled, "But now you too will die."

"Oh, no. I've been planning. I've save up more than enough mana." Caster lashed out with a bolt of energy. Shirou dodged sideways, but as he did, skeleton-things rose up out of the floor. Shirou danced out of the reach of one, but anther came for him, swinging a sword-like spur of bone.

As Shirou retreated toward the courtyard, Illya came up from the other direction. "Artem is dead. I don't know how long Caster can keep going without him. Where's Arturia?"

"Your command seals – Caster stole them, and now Arturia is under her thrall."

Shirou slowed, torn about what to do. With the skeletons coming, and Caster showing no sign of weakening, it was getting more and more dangerous here. But he couldn't abandon Arturia.

"Shirou, let's go!" Illya grabbed Shirou by the arm and pulled him towards the exit. Along the way he destroyed any skeletons in their path almost by reflex, without any thought.

^T^Y^A^

Shirou collapsed onto the couch at Illya's house. Illya watched as he sat there, unmoving.

"I'll make some dinner for us." She said tentatively. There was no response.

As she went towards the kitchen, Sella came up, "what would you like for dinner?"

"I'll make something," Illya replied casting a worried glance at the redhead. She didn't see Sella skeptical frown.

Shirou was still sitting there, staring unseeing at the turned off television when Illya brought out the slightly overcooked steaks. "Come eat, Shirou." They sat, and Shirou ate mechanically.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"And why not? I promised to protect her, and I didn't."

Illya slammed both hands onto the table, finally drawing Shirou's attention. "This is a war. And promises like that are meaningless. Arturia is a warrior. She know that. War is a chaos. You do the best you can, but here are no promises. Even I know that, and I lead a fairly sheltered life."

"I.. it still feels wrong. I could have done more."

"You were inside the building. If anybody is at fault, it was me – I was the one fighting by her side."

Shirou looked up sharply at Illya, but then slumped back down, "I know you did the best you could."

"Then why are you being so much harsher with yourself?" Shirou had no response to that, "And you shouldn't give up hope yet. If we defeat Caster we can get Arturia back."

"How? Even if Arturia resists Caster's control, neither one of us can go against a Servant on our own."

"Get Rin. She seemed all fired up to stop Caster before."

"But that was back when Artem was her master. And anyways, I don't know where she is operating from."

"I took the liberty of looking up Tohsaka in the town directory. There's no guarantee that she operating from her home." Illya held up a hand to forestall Shirou's protests, "But she's probably monitoring it. If we go there, we can leave a message."

Shirou mulled that over before standing up abruptly, "In that case, let's go!" He led the way out into the night.

^T^Y^A^

The two mages were following the directions that Illya had jotted down. The streetlights were plentiful in this part of town, but the roads were empty because of the lateness of the hour. They had just turned to take a short cut through an ally when a pair of skeletons stepped out of the shadows.

"Lookout!" Illya called. Shirou had been distracted, and he barely dodged the bony spear of the first by stepping into the second. As the second skeleton tried to step back to gain enough space to run the hero through, Shirou grabbed and twisted, throwing it into the first. With their boney limbs tangled, they weren't able to escape when one of Illya's birds encircled them with a blue thread. With a *snickt*, it pulled tight, shearing the pair in twain.

The two mages scanned the sky in trepidation, and Shitou sniffed the air. "I don't sense any trace of Caster."

Illy nodded,"This bad. If caster is targeting us all the way from Ryuudou.."

Shirou nodded. "Let's go fast so we can avoid getting into any more fights - I am starting to run low on Prana"

Illya held up a hand, halting him in his tracks. After a moment of concentration, she opened her other hand, releasing a swarm of fireflies. "Decoys. They are pretty slapdash, but hopefully at this range they will prevent caster from tracing us magically."

Shirou smiled, "I have an extremely talented sister."

"Step sister." Illya blushed.

The pair continued walking, staying close to the edges of buildings, and avoiding the open areas.

^T^Y^A^

Shirou peered around the back of a parked van before turning down the narrow lane. A pair of skeletons were at the other end, by the cab. Fortunately, they looking the other way.

Shirou reacted immediately, lunging forward and lashing out with his walking stick to shatter the skull of one, sending it into the path of the other. Before the second skeleton could navigate the obstacle, Illya's little blue bird burrowed through its chest.

The two looked at each other. "This is getting out of control – that's the third pair of skeletons. And they don't appear to have any clue where we are - they are just wandering the streets like some necromantic gang."

Illya nodded, "We should contact the supervisor. It's his responsibility to make sure that the Grail war stays secret. At this rate, the mundanes will begin to notice that something is wrong."

Shirou recalled the creepy priest and shuddered in revulsion, "Lets get Tohsaka first." As Illya turned to go, he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, "And thanks for getting me out of my funk. Sometimes.. I feel like no matter what I do, I can't change anything. That all my actions are meaningless."

Illya turned around and stepped in to give the surprised hero a hug. "They aren't meaningless. I told you, I followed your exploits, and I know that you saved many, many lives. I wouldn't be surprised if you became a Heroic Spirit yourself, one day"

Shirou looked awkwardly down at the blond holding tight to him before carefully returning her hug. It was very strange because she looked so much like Arturia. "Thank you. But I think the age of heroes is over."

Illya stepped back and smiled up at him, "That doesn't mean that there are no more heroes."

It was one more block before they reached a large western style mansion. "Well, this is it"

Shirou went up and knocked. The door creaked open. "Something is wrong here."

^T^Y^A^

Earlier:

"Tell me!" Rin poked Saber in the chest. She was laying half on top of him, dressed in an elegant night gown. Saber, on the other hand was bare chested, just in a pair of loose African style trousers.

Saber rolled his eyes, but his smile gave away that he wasn't actually angry, "I told you, I don't remember." He rubbed Rin's back with his free hand.

"You're not getting out of it so easily," Rin purred, "I checked the ritual – there were no major aberrations. There is no reason for you to have lost your memory."

"What if the problem is not with the ritual, but with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with you." Rin wriggled, "But I think I deserve to know. Not only as your master, but as your lover as well." Before Saber can say anything, Rin held up the arm with her command seals, "I command you to never leave me.." She paused as if to consider, and then amended "Actually, make that 'Take me wherever you go!'" a command seal faded, leaving just the one. "See, we are almost married."

Saber sighed. This was turning into something completely unexpected. He was used to saving people. It's what he had done all his life. It was who he was. But now… Rin didn't care about any of that. Apparently being a hikikomori, all alone in her mansion for years, had made her a little.. odd. Or maybe she had just become used to focusing on her what was in front of her. Whatever the case, she was forcing him (mostly by dint of personality) to focus inwards, on their relationship. And he was discovering that it wasn't so bad. He had never really paused to enjoy himself before. To do what made him happy. "I love you too, but that would be a very bad idea."

"Aha! So you admit that you remember. So what are you not telling me?"

Saber stared at Rin. Telling her the truth would be a really, bad idea. But he discovered that he really didn't care anymore. "If I was from the future, then.." Before Saber could finish his thought, the boundary field signaled that somebody was at the door.

Rin slid off and threw on a bathrobe. "Hold that thought. I'll be right back." She stomped down stairs. This always happened. People were so inconsiderate, always demanding attention. That's why she tried to avoid them. Except Saber. She needed to figure out what to do once the Holy Grail war ended. There was no way she was going back to being all alone, locked up in her house. She had enough mage circuit to support Saber, as long as she scaled back her research a little.

"What?" Rin demanded, throwing the door open.

"Why, is that any way to great an old friend? And one who was following your constant admonitions to always visit the Second Owner first thing when arriving at a new city?" Luvia's eyes sparkled as she teased her former classmate.

"Luvia!" Rin perked up, "How are you doing? You look good."

"Mm. But you seem to have put on a couple of pounds?" Luvia jibed as she walked into the mansion.

As she did, Rin's bounded field went off again, and the young magus leaped back, triggering a spell in her hand. "You a Master in the Holy Grail war! I just felt a Servant cross my bounded field!"

Luvia took a defensive stance as well, "And from your reaction, you are one as well. For the record, I did not come here looking for a fight. I honestly was just looking up an old friend."

"In that case, may the best Servant win." Rin held off attacking, In the hope that the Servants would fight and resolve the issue without the need for her to attack Luvia. She and Luvia had never been close – they were more rivals than real friends. But the Clocktower had a way of forging ties in those that went through it together.

"Very well. I have no animosity.. YOU!" Luvia's guard went back up as she spotted Saber coming down the stairs, still only half dressed. "So you moved on pretty fast, Shirou," She hissed, "Shacking up with Rin already. Lancer, Kill him!" She shrilled.

"What?" Rin's head swiveled between her Servant and Luvia in confusion. She barely had time to dodge as Luvia unleashed a barrage of Gandr shot.

"And you, you minx! You think it's funny sleeping with somebody else's boyfriend! You always were sniffing after anything I had, trying to take everything worthwhile from me!" She threw a gem at Rin. The fact that technically, she was no longer dating Shirou was trumped by the fact that he was sleeping with Rin. How dare he move on already!

Rin threw herself under the dining room table as the gem detonated, shattering the chandelier. The outside walls and windows were reinforced by a boundary field, so they remained unmarred.

Meanwhile, Lancer materialized and jabbed at Saber. Lancer was huge man, more like an entire army rolled into one package, and the spear he attacked with looked like a telephone pole tipped with a sheet of jagged steel.

Saber leaped from halfway down the stairs, flipping over the man-mountain and delivering a slash to his neck. But Lancer moved with inhuman quickness, ducking and lifting the butt of his spear to deflect the attack before spinning to smash the side of it into Saber while he was still midair.

Saber deflected most of the blow, just skidding across the foyer.

The two Servants faced off, circling slowly as they sized each other up.

Lancer was wearing only a lion pelt cape and a Greek Fustanella, and the layers upon layers of muscle roping his chest were clearly visible.

Saber began muttering a mantra as he beat aside another feint from Lancer.

"I am the sword and the scalpel.

Steel is my body and fire is my blood."

The big man's eyes narrowed in a premonition of danger, and he pressed his attack. As he lunged forward, his spear split into nine identical weapons which curved out and then back in, each striking from a different angle.

Saber barely leaped out of the way, deflecting one spear and take a wound to his shoulder. Despite his injury, he continued is Aria.

"I have taken over a thousand lives.

And saved countless more.

Unaware of loss,

Nor aware of gain.

Withstood pain to create Justice,

I have no regrets. This is the only path.

My whole life is the Unlimited World"

All of a sudden, the two Servants found themselves on a tropical savanna, with grass that reached four feet high, and a scattering of trees. A bright yellow sun hung low on the horizon, casting the long shadows of late afternoon.

Saber disappeared into the grass.

Lancer slowly pivoted, looking for any tell-tale motion.

Saber burst from the grass at Lancer's elbow, slashing with his spear, but the point just slid off of the iron hard skin.

Lancer pivoted to retaliate, but the dirt under his foot crumbled unexpectedly, like dry sand. Lancer barely regained his footing to deflect a jab from Saber. The tip of Saber's broad spear scraped along Lancer's chest, throwing sparks.

As Saber danced away, he poured mana into his spear, causing the already broad spear head to swell and crack, until it resembled Lancers - a jagged sheet of metal with a multitude of sharp surfaces.

Lancer spun his spear and swept it through the grass like a scythe, but Saber leaped back and sank into the green. Lancer darted to that spot with a roar, "You are not going to hide from me, little rabbit!"

But hide he did – the grass didn't part for Lancer like it should, instead it stuck to his body, grasping at it.

As Lancer ripped the grass off of himself, Saber leaped in, jabbing him in his Achilles tendon. This strike was so powerful that it knocked Lancer off of his feet, the jagged spear cutting through muscle, and only through Lancers quick action did it miss severing his tendon.

As he rolled back up, he favored his now injured leg.

Again, Saber disappeared in the grass. Now, Lancer was forced to split his attention between searching for his enemy and keeping the grass from completely enveloping him. Despite his divine strength, the grass was slowing him wherever it grasped him, and he was only able to tear it off with the utmost exertion.

Lancer had just grabbed a handful of grass to rip it free from his spear when Saber appeared behind him. Some innate sense warned Lancer at the last moment: he spun and dropped, to roll with the blow. Saber's attack was still powerful enough to gouge a line across his back as it knocked him to one knee. Before Lancer regain his feet, Saber launched a series of lighting fast blows, forcing Lancer onto the defensive. And the longer they sparred, the more the grass enveloped Lancer, pulling at his body.

A viscous jab from Lancer caused Saber to disengage and disappear again.

As Lancer tried to rise, he discovered that the leg he was kneeling on was now trapped to the ground. If this kept up, he would be completely immobilized in the unnatural world.

Saber's attacks were barely able to injure him: the land itself was his true enemy.

As he reached down to free his leg, Saber again attacked. Lancer ducked under his jab and used the butt of his spear to throw Saber over his head. But now his other leg was immobilized, and he was barely keeping his left arm free. At this point Lancer realized that there was no way that he could pull free.

With a roar of rage, Lancer tried to surge to his feet.

As he did Saber again attacked, but Lancer immediately stopped trying to stand, and jabbed his spear forward with all his might in his nine-fold strike, putting all of his energy into the one desperate attack.

The ferocity of the attack caught Saber by surprise. He tried to duck the blows, but a glancing strike to the head sent him flying, dazed, to land in the corner of Tohsaka's study.

Lancer surged to his feet as the grass vanished. Rin and Luvia's battle had also moved in this direction, and the black haired hikikomori turned just in time to see Lancer lunge towards the prone Saber.

"No!" She threw herself between the two servants, casting a ragged bolt of lighting at Lancer, not caring what it did to the rest of the room.

The spell connected, leaving a blackened burn on Lancers chest as he pivoted out of the way, plunging the spear through Rin's stomach.

As the she slipped off, onto the ground, Saber dropped down by her body, cradling the dying magus.

"You promised. Don't leave. Never leave me. Please." she rasped.

"Ah, shit." Luvia watched the scene in front of her as Lancer stood at the ready, not certain if anything more was required.

Luvia took in the scene of Saber cradling the mortally injured Rin.

"Heracles, we are done here." Luvia turned to leave, motioning for her servant to follow.


	7. Chapter 7

Since many of the servants are coming in as different classes, here is a cheat sheet to help you keep track:

Arturia = Servant Rider  
Medusa = Servant Archer  
Cu Chulainn = Servant Berserke  
EMIYA = Servant Saber  
Hercules = Lancer  
Medea = Caster  
Souichirou Kuzuki = Assassin

CHAPTER

Shirou reinforced himself and pulled his cane apart into a pair of fighting sticks. A pair of glowing birds appeared on Illya's upturned hands and flew up to circle her as she followed after her step brother. Shirou pushed the door to the Tohsaka mansion all the way open and cautiously entered.

Inside, the mansion was smashed. Pieces of chandeliers were strewn on the thick carpet, paintings were knocked off of walls and the walls themselves were gouged.

"I hope this is all for camouflage, and that Rin is hiding out in some hotel room."

They went through the building room by room, with the mages taking turns to check for magical traps.

Much of the house was badly damaged, but nothing seemed to be looted. All of which pointed to a fight for the Holy Grail. The only hopeful part was that they did not find any bodies.

Except in the study there was an awfully large pool of blood.

"Illya, would you have sensed it if Saber had died?

"I don't know - I mostly feel it if a Servant dies abruptly. But if they killed Rin first, he would have just faded away." Illya pause, "And if this had happened last night, when we were fighting Caster, I may not have noticed Saber's energy entering me anyways."

Shirou looked around the room. There was nothing else. No clues, no bodies, no Tohsaka. "Let's go home. There is nothing we can do here." On the walk home, Shirou was even more morose then before, walking mechanically, and not even checking for danger. All the positive improvement from earlier in the evening was clearly undone, and he again looked miserable.

Illya glanced at Shirou from the corner of her eyes as she watched the surroundings. "Rin was a little crazy, but she was a good person."

"Let's not assume the worst, yet. She could still be alive," Shirou replied, but his tone gave the lie to his words.

The following day dawned gloomy and overcast, which suited Shirou's mood. He had stayed over at Illya's because he couldn't work up the energy to make his way to Taiga.

As Illyasviel served breakfast – a hearty European style meal, with eggs, sausages and toast (only slightly burnt), Shirou ate distractedly. Illya sat down next to him. "Are you planning to go back to Fujimura's this morning?"

"No. No point."

Illya scowls at that reply before brightening, "In that case, you can help me buy some supplies – I had to travel light, and I still don't have all the ritual implements I need. I bet you know where all the local suppliers are."

"Not that well – I don't do much ritual magic."

"But your the native – you'll know more than I do. It will be a huge help!" Illya cajoled, and Shirou acquiesced with a sigh.

They set out for one of the two shops that Shirou knew of. It actually catered primarily to the small community of wiccans and the middle aged women that dabbled in eclectic western spirituality, but they had a good selection of ritual items that could be repurposed for real magic. It also wasn't in a part of town Shirou had visited often, so he looked around also as they walked, glancing at the little boutique stores aimed at tourists and affluent women on a junket.

"We should go in here!" Illya pointed to one shop that had mannequins sporting broad rimmed hats and silk scarves.

"I though you needed magical equipment."

"I do, but clothing can influence the flow of prana through the body. It is important that the clothing all meshes properly to prevent the prana from hitting a bottleneck."

Shirou looked skeptically at the young woman beaming eagerly up at him. "I've never hear of anything like that."

"You've never met anybody with as many magic circuits as me either. Things get a little... strange after you hit a certain point."

Shirou quirked an eyebrow.

Illya smiled.

Shirou threw up his hands with another sigh. "Fine".

They went into the boutique.

Shirou had expected this to be quick side trip – Illya would go in, try on a pair or three of hats, and they would be on their way to their original destination.

He was wrong.

After an hour of Illya trying on hats, gloves and scarves, in different combinations, and then asking Shirou to give her his opinion on whether they went together (often after striking a pose or two), Shirou finally balked. "Illya, we need to go - it's almost lunch time. We will..."

"Lunch!" Illya threw her latest hat back onto a mannequin's head and glomped onto Shirou's arm line a Tween girl. "I forgot all about that! Yes! Where do you want to eat? I suspect that in this neighborhood at least they'll have something that meets your incredibly high standards."

"I don't usually eat out in fancy places." Shirou hemmed.

"Well of course not – why would you, given that you're a five star chef yourself. But let's make an exception today." Illya bubbled, adding, "Don't worry, it'll be my treat."

Shirou opened his mouth and then closed it, before shrugging in defeat. "Ok."

They finally made it to their original destination hours later, just before closing time. They had spent an extended lunch at a (very) fancy restaurant, where Illya amused Shirou by regaling him with information about northern European cuisine, including such delicacies as Lutefisk and Surströmming. Shirou shuddered in horror at the concept.

"So, what was the point of that?" Shirou asked as they left the store, a small package of alchemical supplies under his arm.

"Did you have fun?"

"Yeah," Shirou replied sounding guilty.

"Well, now your head will be clear this evening, for whatever plan we come up with."

They walked in silence, but it was now a more companionable quiet, as of two people who were comfortable enough not to need to talk to fill the air rather than the funereal quiet of a morgue, like it had been that morning.

As Shirou escorted her into the Emiya estate, Illya finally broke the silence. "So what now? Are you just going to give up?"

Shirou walked into the dining room, taking a proffered tea service from one of the maids and pouring Illya a cup, and then one for himself "No." He took a sip and sighed, "No. I want to keep fighting, I want to make something positive from my failures, otherwise they become meaningless."

Illyasviel smiled, "As expected of my oni-chan" Shirou continued to drink his tea morosely.

"What's the problem, then?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, there's a limit to how much I can do. My mana reserves are almost gone, and with my magic circuits, I don't replenish quickly. " He looked up as a motion at his side caught his eye, to see Illya leaning in close.

"I have too much mana. More than my body can handle, almost. And I know a tantric ritual that will let me transfer that to you." She stared earnestly into Shirou's face.

"Ahh.." Shirou skootched back. "I don't... I think that would be a bad idea. Having sex just for that... It would be degrading. Besides, as you keep saying, I'm you your brother!"

Illya sat unusually still as she replied, "We both know that you are my brother in name only. And this will let you save Arturia."

"By having sex with you?" Despite the tone of Shirou's voice, he was not outrage. He was more confused. Illya and Arturia were so similar physically, and he had spent more time with both of them together than with either one alone. With all the chaos of the Holy Grail war, the two of them had blended together in his mind to the point that he began to doubt himself. Was he really in love with Arturia?

"I know. And I know that you are still angry with me, but this is a war, and messed up things like this happen. "

"But is it ok to use you like that..."

"It's not using," interrupted Illyasviel angrily, "Do you know why I keep calling you Oni-chan? Its because I want to be connected with you. To be family." Illya leaned in. "Because I love you." She kissed Shirou, "So yeah, I'm ok with this."

"But we met in person just a few days ago. You may know about me, but you don't actually know me as a person!" Shirou protested.

Illya shook her head, "did I tell you that when grandfather first told me about you, I hated you? He told me that father had abandoned me in favor of you." She shrugged apologetically, "But when I realized that he was lying to me about, well, pretty much everything, I began to doubt that as well. I tracked you down via the internet to west Africa, and then I followed you in the local news, but that was just so that I could know where to send my familiars."

"Wait, you were spying on me?" Shirou asked. He was surprised to discover that he was more flattered than scandalized.

"Only when you were in public. I'm not a pervert." Illya defended herself.

"It's still pretty creepy."

Ilya didn't argue the point, "And as I watched, I realized that you were kind and caring and heroic." She paused, before adding, "and then I realized that I was in love with you."

She pressed in towards Shirou, and this time he didn't move away. He wasn't certain if this as the right thing to do, but Illya was correct – he needed to do this. To release all the guilt and anxiety and anger. And be with somebody who loved him for who he was, even if he didn't particularity like himself, sometimes.

Soon, bits of clothing were strewn over the floor, And Shirou was half leading, half carrying Illya to the closest bedroom as they kissed passionately.

Later that night Shirou looks at the sleeping Illya as they lay curled up on a futon, and considered the feelings he had for both the women in his life. _'Am I the man who walks in Arturia's nigh unattainable path, or am I Illya's hero?'_

He still didn't have an answer for who he was as he fell asleep.

^T^Y^A^

The following day dawned dark and overcast, and it didn't brighten noticeable as the pair of mages made their way to Kotomine church, riding tandem on Shirou's motorcycle. "This place is creepy in the dark," Illya looked around as they approached the building.

"It's creepy no matter what kind of day it is. It's out here on the edge of town. No other buildings around. The building itself looks abandoned and the grass is all dead." Shirou glanced around, "So are the trees. It's like this building is sucking the life out of them."

"Company manners," Illya reminded Shirou as she pushed the church door open. Shirou nodded a little stiffly, not certain how he should be acting around Illya, now. The fact that she was behaving like nothing had happened made things easier, but in reality it just pushed off the whole mess until later.

"Hello?" Shirou glanced around the dimly lit chapel. There was no reply, so Shirou made his way further in, turning down the corridor leading to the church office and the priest's apartment.

He was just about to knock when the door swung ponderously open, revealing the cadaverous priest. "Yes? Why are you here?" He demanded querulously.

Shirou eyed him skeptically before explaining, "Caster is sending her skeleton familiars out into the city. She is risking revealing the existence of the magical world to the mundanes. You need to call together the remaining Masters to take her down right away." Shirou was more concerned with people's safety than the secrecy, but Kotomine didn't strike him as the humanitarian sort (except maybe the way a man-eating lion was a 'humanitarian').

"I need?" Kotomine drew himself up, energized by the argument, "really? And who are you to tell me what I need?" He glared at Shirou, and then past him at Illyasviel, who was standing back towards the chapel. "This Holy Grail war draws to a close. If you are so concerned about Caster sending her playthings into the city, then have your servant attack more aggressively." Kotomine cast another glance at Illya, "Either you will defeat her, or you will die and she will summon the grail. In either case, the civilians need not worry abut the skeletons any more."

Shirou's eyes got wide, "I am the last remaining Master?" Shirou saw no need to clarify that he no longer had control of his Servant.

"No, but I have it on good authority that the other remaining Master plans to confront Caster tonight." Kotomine smirked.

"And what if they don't?" Shirou demanded.

"Then they don't. And any resulting casualties are on their heads." Kotomine shrugged, "And yours." The priest seemed very calm – almost serene - as he discussed the possibility of large scale civilian casualties.

Shirou was about to argue further when Illya grabbed his arm, "Let's go."

Shirou glanced at her – she seemed to be determined, like she had had some realization. He nodded and spun on his heels.

"We need to hurry – we may be able to reach Ryuudou shrine as the other Servant attacks – we can use them as a distraction at the very least. We can settle this all tonight."

Shirou nodded, "And maybe this last master is someone we can work with." He glanced down at where Illya was still holding his hand. He reluctantly let go to get on the motorcycle.

The pair were half way back to the Emiya estate when Illya yelled, "Look out!" Berserker landed in the middle of the street, forcing Shirou to slew the bike around.

As Shirou leaped off, reinforcing himself, Berserker leaped onto a parked car and crouched, watching.

Shirou and Illya drew themselves up, ready for an attack. Shirou had pulled his walking stick pulled apart into a pair of fighting rods, and Illya was surrounded by several bird familiars.

"I ain't here to fight. I'm just warning you to take care - missy is not my master anymore."

He turned and leaped away, in the general direction of Ryuudou.

"Missy?" Shirou asked

"The woman in the enchanted business suite." Illy hazarded a guess, "Caster must have done the same to him as to Arturia."

Shirou grimaced, "I want to make sure." He raced towards where Berserker was barely visible, perched on a street lamp. Illya followed after, not having time to ask what he meant.

As Berserker bounded up to a rooftop, Shirou and Illya turned and raced after, only to find that he had disappeared by the time they arrived. As Shirou turned in a circle, scanning the skyline for any motion, he was interrupted by a familiar voice

"Shirou! What are YOU doing here? And who is THAT?" Luvia stormed into view, her skirts swishing about her. She appeared both angry and confused. But with Luvia, being confused just made her more angry.

"Ah.." Shirou turns cautiously to face Luvia. "This is my home town. A better question is, why are you here?"

Luvia ignored Shirou's response, instead her eyes bored into Illya,"who is she?"

Shirou sighed and made an exaggerated gesture, "May I introduce you to Illyasviel Emiya." Luvia visibly tensed, but before she could say anything, Shirou added, "My step sister."

"Oh." The tension drained out of Luvia. "I'm here for the Heavens Feel ritual. I am a Master."

Shirou nodded digesting that, _'Of course. Why wouldn't it be the worst possible option for the last remaining master?'_

"I am also a Master in this war, but Caster has stolen my servant, as well as servant Berserker."

Luvia nodded, "why am I not surprised. You would be involved in something like this. Wherever I go, you keep turning up. I thought I was done with you and your quixotic quests." She saw no need to mention that random strangers she saw out of the corner of her eye looked like Shirou. Or that she had had Lancer kill some nameless Servant because she mistook him for Shirou. Why did the stupid idealist have to do this to her head?

Shirou considered his response, "You're involved in this as well. I thought you said the Heavens Feel Ritual was a disaster."

"Yes, but that was before I got a free ticket in. Besides, it's not like I had anything else to do. So I came here to win the Heavens Feel magic and get unlimited mana. That's a good reason to participate. A sensible reason. I bet your involved for some idiotic reason, like to keep everybody safe."

"Let's not argue!" Illya stepped between the two Masters, "we need to focus on stopping Caster before she launches her next attack – she is far too dangerous." She glanced between the two. Shirou stood, looking awkward while Luvia scowled at him. "Caster now has two stolen servants working for her, and a massive amount of mana from the ley line under Ryuudou temple."

Luvia glanced at Shirou, who nodded to show that he agreed with Illya. "You should ask your servant to materialize, so that he can join in the planning" he added.

"Lancer is not one for conversation" But Luvia made a gesture to empty air at her side anyways, and the massive servant faded into view.

"We should go, as our new allies say." Lancer rumbled.

Luvia gave an exasperated sigh at how everything was spinning out of her control. "Fine. We will meet you at the steps to Ryuudou" As Shirou and Illya turned to retrieve their motorcycle, she grabbed Illya's shoulder and added, "Don't expect too much from your idiot brother – he will abandon you at the drop of a hat to race off and help some grandmother cross the street."

Illya turned back to smile at Luvia, "I know who my Oni-chan is. It is what I love about him."

"He will leave you in the lurch! At the worst possible moment!" Luvia called after, but the two mages did not respond.

"What is the point of having those two help us? Shirou no longer has a servant" Hercules rumbled.

"I trust Shirou. He's reliable, and surprisingly effective in a fight. I'd rather have him than some Servant who's motivations I don't trust."

"But I thought you said that..." Hercules began, to have his master peremptorily interrupt him.

"I did, and he is. As a husband, he's horrible. But as a hero. He's not half bad."

"You were married?" Hercules asks in surprise.

"No, but I considered it. It was the next logical step." Luvia sighed.

"I have found that logic doesn't have much to do with relations between men and women."

Luvia glanced at Shirou and the blond floozy as they turned the corner, "Tell me about it"


	8. Chapter 8

Since many of the servants are coming in as different classes, here is a cheat sheet to help you keep track:

Arturia = Servant Rider  
Medusa = Servant Archer  
Cu Chulainn = Servant Berserker  
EMIYA = Servant Saber  
Hercules = Lancer  
Medea = Caster  
Souichirou Kuzuki = Assassin

CHAPTER

"I hate stairs" Illya whined.

"Well, don't expect Lancer to carry you." Luvia ground out. She did her best to keep in shape, exercising and practicing martial arts, but there WERE an awful lot of stairs. Why did the Japanese insist on putting shrines on hill tops?

"We can't be certain what we will find up there," Shirou interrupted the squabble, "Last time, Caster had the monks all frozen in place, so you will have to be careful not to hit them in a crossfire." He did is best to act professional and not get emotionally involved, but it was difficult. At least Illya was not acting all clingy, like before. But then again, she probably knew what sort of walking time-bomb Luvia was, given how she had been cyber-stalking him for years.

Luvia rolled her eyes, "Lancer will go for Caster as quick as possible, while the three of us hold back Berserker and Rider."

"That's going to be very, very hard."

Luvia nodded, "Yeah, but if Berserker is who I think he is, I have a trump card."

"And Rider will be reluctant to attack her former master, so there is that," added Illya. "My big concern Is that Caster will be tapping into the ley lines through the greater grail, giving her unlimited power."

"I think I can do something about that," Shirou commented as they reached the top of the stairs

Luvia glanced sharply at him, "Your Rejecting Reality thing that you did in Nigeria? That almost killed you!"

"As opposed to Caster, who will definitely kill me if I don't do something to cut off her flow mana." He stepped through the front gate, followed by the other three.

In the courtyard they were immediately confronted by Arturia racing towards them, sword at the ready.

"Yeaah!" As she swung at Shirou, Lancer stepped forward, blocking the attack. Shirou raced for the nearest building, letting the two servants fight it out as he searched for Caster. ' _So much for that plan.'_

He didn't have far to look, as the Servant of the spell rose into the air, raining down blasts of purplish light that Illya and Luvia tried to counter or at least deflect.

Shirou looked around, but Berserker was no where to be see. _'Maybe he's out scouting.'_ He decided to use the opportunity to activate his Reality Marble. It wasn't a terribly powerful effect, but it was a direct expression of his force of will. With it, he could bend reality to suit his vision, at least for a little while. He reached out, activating 'Rejecting Reality'. With a conscious effort, everything changed, becoming... exactly the same?

Meanwhile, Lancer tried to reach Caster before she overpowered his master, but Rider kept getting in the way. Arturia did not attack aggressively, instead fighting in a surprisingly defensive fashion but she kept getting between Lancer and Caster, preventing him from making an all out attack.

As Shirou forced his Reality Marble to spread out further, deeper under ground, Caster paused in her casting and frowned, as her mana source disappeared.

Luvia took advantage of the momentary distraction to shoot a spray of explosive gem shards at the servant. As Caster dropped to avoid those, spears of blue light shot from Illya's hand, piercing Caster's cloak, and catching her a glancing blow in the shoulder and the ribs.

"To me, Rider!" Caster called out flexing her command seal, pumping mana into it. As Arturia staggered suddenly towards her ersatz master, as if yanked by a leash, Lancer caught her a glancing blow to the side, knocking her to the ground near Caster, where she slumped, looking befuddled.

"Her hold on Rider is weakening!" Illya called out, "attack Caster now!" Illya sent out more familiars out, this time to entangle Caster.

Arturia pulled herself up to cut Caster free, but Shirou leaped forward, blocking her sword with his reinforced staff before slamming into her bodily. If Rider had been properly centered, such a clumsy attack would have had no effect, but as it was, it sent them both toppling down a grassy incline towards the edge of the temple yard. Shirou managed to steady himself first, lashing out with the knob of his staff against the outer edge of Arturia's leg, hitting it with a resounding crack, right along the seam between the two muscles, where the nerve was exposed.

"I'm sorry," Shiro stood with a pained expression, clearly wanting to help Arturia. But he knew that he had to go help his companions as well. And the pressure from Caster was increasing on his reality marble.

The Servant of the Spell knew, on a deep fundamental level, that the Great grail existed. Even though she could not sense it, the effect of the massive magical code on the surrounding city were clear as day to someone like her.

"Don't be an idiot. I will have to fight you as soon as I can stand back up." Arturia gasped out, "Go. Finish off Caster."

^T^Y^A^

Lancer launched himself at Caster, his spear splitting into nine separate attacks, only to have 9 separate spell circles block them, with a tenth slamming into his chest, throwing him to the ground.

Luvia circled to get a clear shot at Caster. She could see Shirou holding onto the railing as he pulled himself back up the incline. The strain of holding his Reality Marble in the face of Caster's voracious draw on the mana was starting to tell. Shirou was probably the most stubborn man alive, but even he couldn't completely block out somebody like Caster. They didn't have much time – they had to finish this quick, before Shirou collapsed.

But Caster was retreating, gliding down to where Arturia struggled to rise.

"Lancer, go left, I'll go right! Illya, hold her!"

Illya nodded, sending two more familiars to trap Caster. They had just reached the Servant of the Spell when a sword burst out of Illya's chest, as Berserker stepped past her.

"Hey, now, did you start the party without me?"

"Illya!" the shock jolted Shirou, and his grip on reality slipped. This wasn't the reality as he visualized it! This was an objective reality that did not care for his desires or aspirations, that ground heroes under its boot. The Reality Marble begins to wobble.

Mana slammed into Caster with a roar, filling her with heady power.

But as Caster pulls herself free of the loosening blue strands, her own concentration wavered for a moment. Arturia rose gracefully and spun, all in one motions, taking Caster's head off of her shoulders. She then wobbled and collapsed bonelessly as her master dissolved into motes of light.

At the same time, Lancer launched himself at Berserker, who's face deformed in rage.

Shirou looks between Arturia, who lay slumped where she had fallen, and was now starting to look translucent, and Illya, lying in a pool of blood. He threw himself towards Illya, his healing magics reaching out to repair her body. "Come on, keep breathing. Your a fighter! Don't give up now." Illya was struggling to breath as she grew more and more pale.

He was so involved in keeping Illyasviel alive that he lost track of the conflict around him, so he was surprised to see Arturia standing, swaying slightly over him.

"Hello Shirou," She smiled, "I think this is good by. Thank you for your insight." She knelt down next to Illya, placing her hand over Illya's heart. Her hand began to turn into motes of light that streaked into Illya. "Shirou, I am sorry I can't stay and help any more, but please use my energy to heal Illya."

"Don't let it take you like that! Fight it, or both you and Illya will die. Don't let yourself be turned into a mindless nothing. You are too strong, to vibrant for that!"

Arturia nodded, "I'll try" She took a step away from Illya, looking resolute. But as she did, she began to glow around the edges, and became less distinct, like she was standing behind a sheet of frosted glass, and then she faded from view.

Shirou strained to hold back the essence that was being pulled into Ilya, but it wanted to be swallowed up by the Grail inside Illya. All that he did was slow it a little. So instead he redirected it, refusing to give up, pulling and pushing so that at least a little helped keep Illya alive as he repaired tissues torn asunder. But all the same' Illya began to look less and less human, her skin taking on a metallic sheen.

Meanwhile, Lancer and Berserker's fight slowed, as neither could gain a clear advantage. Berserker's hideous visage prevented Lancer from attacking all out, while Berserker could not overcome Lancers superior speed. Luvia circled the edge, trying to get a clear shot at Berserker, but both servants were moving so fast that she couldn't keep up.

"Shirou I need some help here!" She called out, but there was no response. She glanced over, to find the redhead kneeling beside Illya's glowing body, trying to stem the transformation with his bare hands. _'He is never there when I need him.'_ She tried to shoot a burst of gandr at Berserker, but it didn't come even close.

Finally, with an exasperated sigh she called out , "Cu Chulainn, look over here!" And pulled open her blouse. _'I can't believe I'm doing this. A Clocktower education, a mastery of all magics, and a skill at gem craft that exceed everybody else, and I am reduced to using my body!'_

As Berserker's glanced over to see who called his name, he caught sight of Luvia's bared breasts.

His face returned to normal as his rage evaporated.

He turned back to deflect Lancer's attack, but there were nine of them, coming in from all directions. He danced away from the first two, and blocked two more, but one slipped past, spearing him through the leg. As Berserker staggered back, trying to pull the spear tip from his leg, Lancer launched himself forwards, punching the other servant so hard that he flipped over in mid air. As Berserker twisted in the air, trying to right himself to land on his feet, Lancer lunged again, his spear tearing all the way through Berserker's airborne body.

The mortally injured Cu Chulainn landed, coughing, "I told that sumbitch that I'm no good at fighting women."

As he dissolved into light, Illya twitched under Shirou's' hands, and was enveloped in a glowing hourglass shape. Her mage circuits began to throb, and she now looked more like a statue than a person. The only plus side was that her injury was no longer bleeding.

Luvia looked over at Shirou crouching over the glowing thing that had once been a woman and scowled. She wasn't certain why, but Shirou sitting next to his dying sister bothered Luvia. She knew that she had a jealous streak, but this was just petty! _'Maybe if I had been the one dying...'_ Having won the Heavens Feel ritual, she felt.. empty. It was almost anti-climactic. All that was left was to make her wish.

"We need to get down to the actual Greater Grail. Maybe I can break the connection." Shirou picked up Ilya's stiffened body. He paid no attention to the groans of the monks as they slowly awoke from their enchantment.

Luvia looked at Illya, and then at Shirou. She cold tell it was too late – the dying woman was integrally connected to the grail, and there was no way to stop the raw mana from pouring into her body. You would have more luck stopping gravity. "Where are you going?" She demanded as Shirou took of at a stagger for the edge of the temple compound.

"Can't you sense it? I can smell the magic. Over there!" He pushed through a narrow cleft in the hillside, careful not to slam Illya's head into the rock.

"What do we do next, master?" Rumbled Lancer.

"We follow." Luvia shrugged, "without a command seal, there is no way for Shirou to activate the grail." As she squeezed in through the crack, she used a gem to cast light about her. The cleft soon opened up into an obviously man-made set of stairs carved directly into the stone. Despite herself, Luvia was impressed by her ex. Most mages would have required a bounded field to detect such a stream of mana, but Shirou was always good at sensing magic.

"I don't think he intends to activate the grail." Hercules had taken spirit form, making it possible for him to navigate the too-narrow tunnel.

As they progressed deeper into the hill, the entire passage way was flooded with Mana. Even Luvia could sense it. As a matter of fact, she could sense little else. It was so dense it even sustained Lancer, reducing the drain on her circuits as he recuperated from the battle.

In the distance, they could see the redheaded fool rushing along in front of them. After several minutes of torturous decent, they found themselves going down along the inside wall of a forty foot tall chamber, at the heart of which was something that the eye could not see.

Shirou placed Illya on the floor and reached out to the something-that-was-nothing with his Reality Marble. "I'm going to try to channel the Grail into my Reality Marble. Tie it in so that it erases itself."

"Shirou. Stop. Your going to get killed!" Luvia placed a hand on Shirou's shoulder.

"You just want the grail." Shirou snapped back, "And you don't even have a wish. You're always like that, wanting things just for collecting them, not because you love what they are."

"That's not true, and you know it!" Luvia shot back. Let the idiot kill himself trying to save his stupid sister. She would get her wish after. The drifts of mana were starting to became visible, with multi-colored eddies swirling slowly thought he room, and the nothing in the center pulsing, reaching out for Illya despite Shirou's best efforts.

"But the joke is on you. The grail doesn't even work right! My father decided to destroy it rather try to use his wish to save the world." There was too much mana in the grail. Shirou couldn't deal with all of it. He stepped into the center, in the hope that he could encompass it all at once, but he could barely stand from the magical energies that buffeted him. He wasn't even certain if what he was saying to Luvia made sense.

Lancer rolled his eyes. He had learned patience from his twelve tasks. He had also learned the best way to deal with an enraged woman was to stand stoically and wait for her to tire herself out. You most especially don't taunt her. A woman could make even a demi-gods life miserable.

"No, that's just what you claim. I never met your father. And if I had, I would have given him a smack upside the head for raising such a stupid, distorted, idiot son!" Luvia roared back. She took a step towards Shirou. Whether to pull him out of the center before it destroyed him, or to hit him, she wasn't certain.

Before she could go anything further, Lancer launched himself at her, "What?" Just in time to knock her out of the path of a rain of swords that plunged from the sky.

"Bravo! Bravo! That was quiet a show, though it is unfortunate that the King of Knights had to go like that, with a whimper and not a bang." A man in golden armor stepped out from the shadows.

Lancer was just setting Luvia down when chains shot out of a portal that had materialized behind the golden Servant. They flew as if they were alive, seeking to entangle Lancer, but the Servant of the Spear deflected them before rushing to attack this new enemy. More chains come from behind, encircling his left wrist, slowing him enough that several swords shot into his body. Lancer manages to dodge the worst of it, taking one sword in his shoulder, and deflecting several others with the chains around his wrist.

"Come, try your might, oh mighty one, but none compare to the King of Kings!" Gilgamesh taunted Hercules as the later ripped apart the chain encircling him. But as he did, another one wrapped around his leg. "Divine blood runs through my veins. And this is a world where the strong are supreme."

He watched in amusement as Lancer struggled.

It was at the last moment that he ducked, barely avoiding Shirou's attack. The red head had launched himself from the Grail. His hair stood on end, his clothes were smoldering, as were his eyes. "That's right, fight! War is the one true blessing of the human race. It separates the strong from the weak, and sheds the dross of mankind!" He deflected another thrust from Shirou's spear, being careful to stay away from where Lancer was struggling. Shirou was now wielding a jagged spear that was a duplicate of the overcharged one that Saber had wielded in his last battle, and he swung it with the same ease as Saber had.

"Luvia, see if you can help Illya!" Shirou called out as Gilgamesh grabbed a sword from one of his gates and swung at his head sloppily.

But Luvia charged forward, spraying the golden king with Gander shot. "Yes, that's right! By fighting, you prove that you have value. The world is full of worthless vermin that are too meek to stand up for themselves, much less to fight." Gilgamesh was interrupted mid rant as Lancer burst his bonds and lunged forward, his spear reaching to strike Gilgamesh.

The Golden King began to look concerned. One of his swords clipped Shirou, knocking him aside so that he had enough room to pull forth Ea. But Lancer pressed him, attack ferociously so that Gilgamesh didn't have room to get Ea to spin up to its full mind (and world) twisting potential.

As Gilgamesh staggered back, deflecting another attack with a slew of swords, Lancer closed in again. Despite being just feet away, his spear attacks were in no way restricted, coming faster and faster. Gilgamesh had no time to power up Ea, but the two servants were so close that he couldn't miss. He lashed out with the sword, shearing off Lancer's spear arm. But before he could celebrate, Hercules punched out with his left hand as if it was a spear, crushing Gilgamesh's chest.

Gilgamesh blinked, trying to keep his feet, trying to breath, when Shirou stepped in, "War doesn't make you great. It just makes you dead." And plunged his massive spear clean through Gilgamesh. And then, for good measure he pulled it out, eviscerating the former hero before swinging the jagged sheet of metal that was the spearhead around like an ax, decapitating the dying servant, because some things only died after you took off their head.

"It's over. Really over." Luvia supported the badly injured Lancer, as she tried to slow the blood coming from his shoulder. Shirou was more concerned with Illya. He wasn't certain if it was too late, but he had to do something. Even if it killed him – because without her, he would be just as dead inside.

"Luvia, I'm serious: the Grail is not what you think." Shirou pleaded desperately. "You know about my father, about how his one goal was to help people. I recently learned that he had actually won the last grail war, but at the last moment abandoned the grail, refusing to make his wish. It must be because the grail is defective, that the wish won't work."

Luvia stared at Shirou stone faced, "who says I have a wish? I just want the power from the third magic. You made it quite clear that I should stick to what I know – magic – and let the rest of the world go hang itself."

"I never said that!"

"No, but your actions made it clear. That there is no point in reaching out to other humans. You're all a disappointment." She turned towards where Illya's glowing form floated in the air,.

"Wait," rumbled Lancer, trying to pull himself up straight.

"What an inspiring speech!" Kotomine chortled as he stroked Illya's glowing form. "You will be please to know that you don't have to worry – I will be the one to make the wish, the one wish that the Grail won't corrupt. For you see, as one war draws to a close, another begins! I have to say it was messier than expected, but Gilgamesh was correct – it was fascinating to observe!" His eyes sparkled with a madness that he no longer bothered to conceal from the world. "Now, as soon as your poor Lancer dies, the world will burn!"

"Where are they all coming from?" Shirou asked as Kotomine rambled on.

Luvia just shrugged. "I no idea." She turned to help Lancer, but he slumped back down as the blood loss was too much for even his massive frame to bear.

Shirou wasn't certain if this Kotomine character was a serious threat , but he could see the marks of command seals on his arms as he gestured wildly. The redhead moved towards llya. He didn't want to attack the priest if he didn't have to, but he didn't want this madman near Ilya or the Grail.

But before Shirou could decide what to do next, a faint after-image of Arturia materialized in front of Kotomine just enough to plunge her sword into his side. She turned towards Shirou. "I love you". And broke up into motes of light.

Just like that, she was gone. Shirou had thought she had run out of mana during the battle and 'died'. But she must have been just barely hanging on.

Earlier, when he had been fighting for his life, he had had no time to process Arturia's death. But this - this slammed into him like a ton of bricks. But he couldn't collapse now. Illya still needed him. He brushed the tears away and ran over to what had been Illya, casting a diagnostic magic.

Her body was as rigid as steel, and starting to lose its definition. Despite Shirou's best efforts, too much mana was escaping the Greater Grail, and it was continuing to reshape her into the lesser grail. One more Servant, and it would push her over the edge. Shirou glanced over at Lancer desperately.

Luvia stood watching as Shirou tried to make sense of what was happening. She glanced own to where Lancer was starting to glow. "I guess I traded one useless spear man for another. Lancer, return directly to the throne of Heroes," she commanded, and a command seal faded.

End ?

* * *

Hello all, thank you for reading my story.

I am just adding a quick note here to tell you that I am going to try my hand at original writing, and that I will be putting a link up in my profile for my first story


	9. Chapter 9

Not the end?

Luvia was watching as Shirou struggled to to contain the Greater Grail when she felt something touch her mind.

She found herself standing in a reproduction of the Clocktower, with Shirou standing in front of her in a student's formal robes,

"Hello, Luvia. Do you remember how much fun we had here?" Shirou turned around gesturing with his open hands at everything about them. They were in one of the covered stone walkways that bordered the central yard. In reality, this area would be filled with students rushing to class, or just standing and gossiping, but this version was empty save for the two of them.

"There was no 'we'!" Luvia countered. "Shirou never attended the Clocktower."

"Oh, but there could be. Imagine if the two of you were here again, back to the way you were when you had first met?"

Luvia didn't want to recall, but she did. The excitement of meeting such an exotic mage, such a fascinating man, in a place as full of exotic wonders as Africa. How jarring it had been to realize that Shirou did not perceive the same world that she did, that what he valued was so completely different from everything she had been taught was important. That he cared, deeply, about the people around him. The need to own at least a part of his reality.

"How? You can't turn back time?" Luvia demanded of the Grail-as-Shirou.

"No. but I could make it seem that I had. I could..."

"No!" Luvia interrupted. "I will not condone destroying Shirou to create some sort of puppet, some facsimile of what he was." Luvia used her anger to push through her doubts. It would be nice to relive that past, after all.

"And I could change his past, so that he would never want to leave you. I could take away his memory of his father..."

"It's not his father that is the problem!" Luvia interrupted again. She raised her command seal and pronounced, "I wish that the Holy Grail had never been created!"

With a flash, she was back in the real cavern. The Grail pulsed, as for a moment, it's power all poured inward instead of out. It was just the briefest of seconds, as the Grail tried to find some way to erase itself (and possibly the world). But it was enough - at that moment, Shirou's Reality Marble slammed down. The Grail disappeared like a miniature sun collapsing in on itself.

Shirou dropped to the ground, light headed. His body wasn't working right anymore. Nor was his mind. He didn't black out completely, but he wasn't certain what he was seeing or hearing. It was all mixed up. Like a sewer.

"Shirou?" the voice was distorted, as if coming from a great distance.

"Who's there? I can't see."

"I'm here." He couldn't tell if it was the same voice speaking. "We both are." A pair of lips gently touched his.

A beginning


End file.
